Twin Deities
by goji1995
Summary: To defeat Bill, Dipper and Mabel transform into beings far more powerful than the demon. But after the battle is won, and they seem to be back to normal, they both know that they are forever changed. They aren't truly human anymore, this much they know. But what exactly have they become?
1. Chapter 1

TWIN DEITIES

For one trillion years, Bill Cipher had plotted and planned. For all those long eons, he waited, longing for the chance to get free, to wreak the chaos for which he was meant on another dimension. For the last billion of those trillion years, he had devised the perfect plan, followed every step of it with the greatest precision.

The mortal fleshbags were so easy to manipulate, and Bill watched with the greatest satisfaction as everything fell into place, laughed with glee as the family that tried so hard to stop him instead played right into his hands, felt the rush of pure demonic glee as Shooting Star gave him exactly what he needed without even knowing it, then finally had the satisfaction he had so long been craving as he broke open the rift, his ticket to freedom.

It tore a hole in the fabric of reality itself, and finally, finally he had what he wanted, what he had always wanted, and he knew satisfaction unlike any he had ever known. He tore the world of these mortals to pieces, reigned supreme as he unleashed his chaos onto the earth. His victory has been so sweet, so joyous. A demon couldn't ask for better than this. But then, it all feel to pieces. The family who he had toyed with for so long fought back, and they won. Bill was defeated, his chaos vanishing from this world, his power breaking with every second. Pine Tree and Shooting Star stood before him, filthy, bloody and battered, but victorious. He had been bested by tiny apes vomited out by evolution only a few million years ago. And he was furious. Furious that he hadn't seen the fatal flaws in his plan, furious that he hadn't covered his weaknesses better. Furious that everything he had worked so long and hard for was being undone, his fun being brought to an abrupt and sudden end. His whole form turned black and red, his eye bulging.

"YOU MORTAL FILTHBAGS", he howled, "YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING".

The twins quivered under the force of that voice, feeling every inch of Bill's demonic essence pouring vitriol and hatred into every word. But they pressed on, and Bill, despite his demonic fury, could do nothing to stop them now. Except for one last little thing. It would mean his death, but all he wanted was to exact his revenge. Cackling furiously, Bill latched onto the rift just before it closed and changed it, altered its course until it lead not to the nightmare realm, but to something else, the place where Bill would enact his final revenge. Using his crumbling power, Bill tore himself and both of the twins into the rift. He laughed joyously at the looks of horror on their faces, cackled gleefully as the elder Pines screamed and cried out for their niece and nephew, unable to do a thing to save them. Bill and the twins vanished into the rift, and at long last it closed, sealed forever.

* * *

Dipper and Mabel awoke to find themselves surrounded by a reality beyond their comprehension. All around them were clusters of universes, forming impossible shapes in impossible colours, hanging, climbing, twisting, distorting, each cluster connected by threads of yet more universes. Reality as they knew it simply didn't exist here. The twins stared into one another's eyes, unable to speak in this bizarre world, unable to breathe. Yet somehow, they were still alive. Then, to their horror, Bill coalesced before them.

"Hey kids", he cackled, somehow able to speak and create sound in a world where such concepts didn't exist. "Welcome to the Nexus".

They stared at him questioningly, the fear in their eyes bringing him ever more joy.

"It's the world between worlds", he said, "the world linking all universes together. You little shits beat me, but I've got one more trick up my sleeve. Here in this dimension, there exists more energy than in any single universe. My power's breaking, but I've got plenty more to take in here. Check this out".

Bill let out a unearthly scream, Dipper and Mabel only able to watch as the power of the Nexus coursed into Bill. His form cracked, threatening to shatter, but the demon sealed up the wounds as his entire form became a startling white.

"The power here is greater than me", Bill said, "Too much for me, and it's gonna kill me. But you know what, so long as I get to take the two of you little skin puppets down with me, THEN FINE".

The twins grabbed hold of one another, clinging to each other as fear coursed through them. They had been so close, so close to a total victory, only for Bill to one up them one final time. Hatred coursed through Dipper like none he had ever known, fury greater than that any human should ever be capable of. But he could do nothing. Nothing to stop Bill. Nothing to save Mabel. At the very least, he had the satisfaction of knowing they had still won, had still saved the world, had still beaten Bill.

Then, Bill unleashed the power of the nexus on them, and all they could do was hold onto one another as agony beyond any that the human nervous system was capable of tore through every fibre of their being, ripped into their very souls. Bill cackled with sadistic glee, and as the two little mortals writhed before him, he sent nightmares worse than any the human mind could ever endure into their heads, and his laughter only grew louder as he watched the terror spread yet more across their agonized faces. He was very quickly feeling the cost of the power, however, knowing that any minute now he would slip, the power overwhelming and destroying him. Time to finish the job.

With one final flick of his wrist, he disintegrated them, destroyed them utterly. He laughed louder than he ever had. He was still defeated, but at the very least he had had his revenge. The power of the Nexus now began to tear him apart, his very essence being consumed by it.

But then, something that should have been impossible happened. Dipper and Mabel were dead, yet still they existed, somehow holding onto reality, desperately clinging to the Nexus. Their souls were not ready to give up yet, their energies entwined as they held one another even in death.

As they held onto the fabric of space-time, their souls latched onto each and every one of the universes surrounding them. It shouldn't have been possible for mortal souls, yet still they felt the power of each and every single one of the infinite dimensions pouring into them. They imbibed it, absorbed, allowed it to flow into every last inch of their souls. As they fed on this immense power, they gained a connection to each and every single one of these infinite worlds, the entirety of the Nexus becoming a part of them.

They transmuted into an entirely new state of being, becoming something beyond anything conceivable. And now, sustained by the energy of the multiverse, they restored the bodies Bill had destroyed. The demon stared in shock as they reconstituted, as he saw what they had become. Their entire bodies glowed more brightly than every star in existence, an unearthly light that would have destroyed the minds and bodies of mortals. But they were no longer mortals. They could both feel the knowledge of everything coursing into their minds, the power of all worlds becoming theirs to do with as they pleased. They knew everything, could see everything, could do everything. Reality was nothing but their plaything now.

"W-W-WHAT!?" Bill cried out.

Their movements synchronising, Dipper and Mabel lightly flicked their wrists, and the power of the Nexus was torn out of Bill, until he was as he had been before, his death as he had wished it taken away from him.

"H-HOW!?" the demon roared.

"What's the matter Bill?" the twins said, their unearthly voices speaking together in unison. "Scared?"

The two of them looked at the horrified demon and laughed. The being that had once seemed so terrifying and powerful to them now seemed nothing more than cute.

"THIS SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE" Bill cried. "YOU'RE JUST MORTALS, HOW DID YOU DO THIS!?"

"The power of every universe gave us new life", they said. "We are beyond reality, beyond time, beyond all that is. We are greater than you ever were, or ever will be. You will never have your revenge. You will never hurt our family again. You will die and become nothing more than dust".

Bill stared at the transformed twins, and for the first time in the countless eons of his life, he felt fear, true, unbearable fear.

"What are you?" He said. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

"We are your death, Bill Cipher".

And without another word, they coursed their gargantuan power into Bill, and the demon screamed in horror and agony as his very existence was erased, his form turning to dust, his energy scattering through the infinite dimensions. And just like that, Bill Cipher was gone. Dead. His very soul was no more, and it was as if the demon had never been. Dipper and Mabel gave one another a glance, then transported themselves back to their home dimension.

* * *

Dipper Pines burst into consciousness with a deep, gasping breath. His heart was thundering, his head swimming. Looking around himself, he realised he was out in the middle of a forest. Were they still near Gravity Falls? Of that he was uncertain. He slowly, uneasily got to his feet, and inspected himself. He was back to normal, or so it seemed. Here he was, in his small, twelve year old body, wearing his shorts and his puffy vest and his pine tree trucker hat. He was Dipper, pure and simple. Right? His mind thundered with a million questions. What the hell was that? What had he and Mabel become? How had they been so powerful? Where was Mabel? That question took centre stage the second it entered his mind.

"Oh no, Mabel", he gasped.

He began to run through the forest.

"Mabel", he called. "Maaaaabeeeeellll".

He began to panic. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she…

"Dipper", her voice rang out.

Relief flooded him.

"Mabel, stay where you are, I'm coming", Dipper yelled. "Keep doing something with your voice so I can find you".

"Okay", she called back. She began to sing in a weak, quavering voice. Dipper followed the sound, running toward her, and finally, he found her. She was stood in a small bed of flowers, her back turned to him. He took a moment to check her over, but she too was seemingly back to normal. There she stood in her sweater and her skirt, her long hair flowing down her back.

"Mabel!" he cried out, tears stinging his eyes.

"Dipper!" she called, turning to face him.

The two of them stared at one another for a moment longer, then promptly burst into tears and threw themselves into one another's arms, giving each other just about the tightest hug they could muster. Neither of them spoke for a long while as they held onto one another as if their lives depended on it, sobbing into one another's shoulders. Finally, as they calmed down, the two of them ended the hug, but held onto each other's hands, sitting down in the flowerbed.

"You're okay", Dipper said in a watery voice, smiling.

"So are you", Mabel said. "I… I can't believe we're alive, bro. I really thought we were gonna die back there. I mean… we DID die. But then… then…"

"Yeah", Dipper said darkly.

"What… what in the heck happened to us bro-bro?"

"I don't know", Dipper said, and he meant it. Just a short while before, he had known everything, but that knowledge was gone now, and he had no clue what had happened to them, how they had done what they had done, what they had become in that final decisive battle.

"I didn't even feel like me", Mabel said, her eyes bulging. "I felt… so different".

"Yeah", Dipper said. "I… I felt so powerful. I mean, we took the energy of every universe basically, but how? Even Bill couldn't do something like that, but somehow, WE did".

"I'm kinda freakin' out right now Dip", Mabel said, her breathing rapidly speeding up. "I don't think we're totally back to normal. I mean we look normal, but I can feel something bro. I feel like something's changed inside of me".

"Me too, actually", Dipper said, realizing for the first time that he felt it too. He didn't know how to describe the feeling, but he could feel that he was irrevocably changed, his very soul transmuted into a different state of being. Something was different, something was forever changed, and the same held true for Mabel. They weren't the same as they had been before, and they both knew it. What they had become in the Nexus was now a part of them forever

"Sis, I…" he began, before cutting himself off.

"What?" Mabel said, her voice quaking nervously.

"I don't think we're human anymore".


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Mabel gave Dipper just about the blankest expression she could muster. Dipper waited patiently for her to respond, an anxious expression carved into his face. Honestly, right now, he didn't know how to feel about this himself, so his brain seemed to have decided to throw all emotions at him at once to let them fight it out. Finally, after a long stretch of silence, Mabel managed,

"Bweh?"

"I… I Don't think we're human", Dipper said.

"B-but. We look human".

"Yeah but… do you feel human?"

"I… I don't know", Mabel said. "I mean I feel different, but…"

"But think about what happened", Dipper said, getting to his feet and anxiously pacing back and forth. "We… we… I don't even know, but we became something so different, so… so powerful. I mean we destroyed Bill, it wasn't even a challenge. We changed, Mabel, we became something totally different. And I don't think we changed back, not really. I mean, we look like we always have, but something just feels so different, so changed, like, like…"

He trailed off as he started to hyperventilate, his breathing rapid. Mabel got to her feet and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Woah, woah, calm down bro", she said. "You're going full panic mode, and you know if you start panicking right now that I will too 'cause I'm majorly freaked out right now".

Dipper stared into his sister's increasingly feral eyes. She was right, they needed to stay level headed. Panicking wouldn't solve anything.

"You're right", he said. "Sorry".

Mabel nodded, letting go of his shoulders.

"So", she said, anxiety dripping from her voice. "If… if we're not human, then… just what in the heck are we broseph?"

"I have no idea", Dipper said. "Just thinking about how powerful we were, it's… it's like we became nature itself".

"Hmm", Mabel said, going deep into thought. She held her breath as she sometimes did when she was thinking deeply on something.

"I mean, were we like, spirits or something?" Dipper said, talking to himself as he walked back and forth, gnawing on his finger in place of his usual pen. "Or… I don't know, I can't figure this out".

Mabel was still holding her breath, and she was coming to the rather startling realisation that she didn't need to breathe out. Or in. Or at all really. Her eyes bulged. She grabbed Dipper's shoulders again and said,

"Dipper, stop breathing".

"Wait, what?" he said, his eyebrow cocking confusedly.

"Just… just stop breathing".

Dipper did as he was instructed, still confused but curious as to what she meant. Just when he was about to question her what the point of this was, he realised… he didn't feel the slightest urge to breathe. He waited for over a minute, but no urge came.

"Well… that's interesting", he said, his voice hoarse and quiet.

"Are we ghosts or something?" Mabel said. "How… what… I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW!"

"No, we can't be ghosts", Dipper said as he plucked a stone from the ground. "See, we can still interact with the world, we're solid. We're alive. Just… in a different way to before".

"Okay so… Spirits? Fairies? Demons?"

"No", Dipper said, his tone grave. "Mabel, think about what we did, how powerful we were. I've been trying to avoid thinking this, but… I think we became gods".

Mabel stared at him blankly.

"Bweh?" she said again.

"I mean think about it", Dipper said. "No spirit, demon or fairy is that powerful. Mabel, we literally took in the energy of the multiverse, at least I think that's what happened. We destroyed Bill in like, a second. And I don't remember what it was like now, but… but we could see everything, we knew everything. We could have done literally anything just like that. I mean, I don't know if this is the conventional sense of it, but, we were gods Mabel".

"But… how?"

"I don't know. Bill said it himself, it should have been impossible, but… but we still did it".

Mabel was looking wild eyed again. Then she let loose with a scream of what seemed to be a mix of shock and horror. Dipper was tempted to join her, but he kept himself calm enough to avoid it.

"So, are we… still gods?" she said once she had calmed down.

"I… I'm not sure", Dipper said. "I mean we can't be anymore, right? We don't have any of that power, or any of the things that we could do and see. We look normal again. But there's still something so different. Maybe we aren't gods anymore, but we're still not human".

As he said this, a small voice in the back of his mind told him he was wrong, told him there was still much more to them than what currently met the eye. He pushed this voice aside.

"So, this is kind of a big deal", Mabel said. "I mean, that's like… I can't even think… are we still even us?"

"I think so", Dipper said, yet even as he said this he felt a smidgen of doubt. After becoming what they had been, could it truly be said that their human selves were who they were anymore? They had both felt so different when they had transformed, like something entirely inhuman and incomprehensible.

Mabel suddenly clamped onto him like a limpet, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, both of them quietly panicking. For a long while they remained in their silent embrace, until finally they both felt calm enough to let go.

"Okay", Mabel said quietly. "So we may or may not be gods. But we're still us and we're still alive and that's all that really matters".

"Yeah", Dipper said, to reassure both himself and Mabel. "But really, we should probably test this some more. I mean, we're not human, and given that we don't have to breathe anymore, I don't think we're even biological anymore either. Maybe some of that power stayed with us".

"Hmm", Mabel said. "Lemme try something".

She pointed her finger at a nearby stream and focused intently on it. Nothing happened. Dipper opened his mouth to say that it probably wasn't going to work when all of a sudden, it did. A thin beam of water rose out of the stream and levitated into the air. Dipper stared at it with bulging eyes as a huge grin spread across Mabel's face.

"Awesome", she said, and she began to swirl her finger through the air. As she did, the beam of water followed her, zigging and zagging through the air, taking on different shapes until it became a tiny water bunny. Mabel directed it with her mind so that it hopped through the air all around them.

"Huh", she said as she let the water drop to the ground. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all".

"Okay, I've gotta try that", Dipper said, a grin of his own forming.

He pointed his finger, and, concentrating hard, he levitated several rocks from the ground, and in an instant he transformed them to lava and melded them together. He made the molten rock form a star shape, then solidified it again. The twins stared at each other in wonder, identical grins spreading even further.

"I don't know why we were freaking out", Mabel said, "this is AWESOME!"

Without further ado, they began to explore their powers in every way they could think of. Dipper bent the light so that the world looked distorted for a few moments. Mabel turned the leaves of a nearby tree every shade of pink she could think of. The two of them together carved a small boulder into a statue of a dinosaur, to which Mabel added liberal amounts of permanent glitter. Dipper transformed a fallen tree branch into iron, and Mabel swirled a small cloud into the shape of a butterfly. For a few minutes more, they messed around with their newfound abilities before they found themselves feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Man, I think we might have overdone it a little", Dipper said, feeling tired to his core.

"Aww, but we only just started", Mabel said, trying to fight off her sleepiness.

"Well, I guess we don't have total, limitless power anymore", Dipper said, rubbing his eyes. "But hey, this is still like, the coolest thing that's ever happened".

"I know, just think what Stan and Ford are gonna say", Mabel said, giggling at the thought of their astonished faces.

Dipper's eyes widened.

"Oh no, Stan and Ford", he gasped. "They saw us get sucked into the rift. They probably think we're dead".

Mabel's eyes saddened in an instant, her hand going to her mouth.

"You're right", she said. "We need to get back to them. But how? Are we even still in Gravity Falls?"

"I'm not sure", Dipper said. "If it is, then it's a part of the forest I'm not familiar with".

He looked up and noticed that the evening was approaching.

"Look, as horrible as I feel saying this", he said. "It's getting late, and I think we should probably set up camp for the night and find our way back to them tomorrow, if we can".

Mabel wanted to protest, but she knew he was right.

"Yeah, okay", she said.

Together, the two of them gathered firewood, combatting the tiredness that they felt. During the occasional camping trips they had had over the summer, Wendy had taught them outdoor survival skills, which they were now very grateful for, as they soon had a cheerful blaze going. They lay down side by side, taking in the warmth.

"So what does this mean for us?" Mabel said.

"Huh?" Dipper said.

"I mean… Even if we're not gods anymore, this is still a big deal. We still don't need to breathe, probably don't even need to eat or drink, and we've still got these weird, funky powers. I mean, this is awesome, but it's still… Kinda freaky and daunting".

"Yeah, you're not wrong there", Dipper said. "It's… different, to say the least. But you said it yourself. You're still you and I'm still me. That's all that really matters".

Mabel smiled at him.

"Yeah, you're right bro-bro. I guess we just have to take this whole thing one step at a time".

For a long while they remained in silence, and slowly the sun vanished completely and the sky became ablaze with thousands of stars. A small flicker in the backs of their minds told them that they were the masters of those stars now, that the enormous spheres of burning plasma were nought but toys to them, that they could do as they pleased with them if they so wished it, but they pushed this notion aside. Such thoughts made the both of them uncomfortable, felt strange and inhuman. Soon the sleepiness began to get the better of them. Maybe they weren't so inhuman if they still needed sleep, Dipper thought.

But would they always need it, he wondered? As with the other thoughts, he pushed this aside. For now they should just relax, he told himself. Mabel soon cuddled up to Dipper, resting her head on his chest, and before long, she had fallen asleep. Now, as he was drifting into sleep himself, Dipper felt it. The uneasy feeling of a vast abyss of overwhelming power. He didn't have access to it, his mind and body couldn't even handle such power. But it was there, and it was his, and it was Mabel's. Fear spread through him. He wondered how much of himself was left. For now it seemed that he and Mabel were both basically the same as they had always been, but when they had fought Bill they had been so different.

Would that power always remain inaccessible, he wondered, or would they eventually become the gods that had destroyed Bill Cipher once again? He felt like nothing but a single droplet in a vast ocean, and the thought terrified him. But then, he remembered that he wasn't in this alone. Mabel was here with him, going through the same exact thing. He wrapped an arm around his sleeping sister and held her tightly.

They would face their new reality together, side by side the way they always had. And thinking this, he managed to chase the fear away and simply be in the moment. He smiled as the warmth of the fire washed over him, and felt at peace as he tightened his grip on Mabel. No matter what, they were going to go through this together, and with this thought keeping the fear at bay, he finally slipped into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Dipper awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed considering he had slept on the forest floor without a blanket all night. He slowly got to his feet, careful not to wake Mabel. He felt more power flowing through him than he had the day before, which meant he could probably do more too.

"Hmm, let's see", he muttered to himself.

He shot his arm in the direction of a nearby tree, extending his palm as he did so. A shockwave erupted from his open hand and hit the tree directly, snapping it in half. Dipper yelped in surprise at the power of the attack. It collapsed towards the two of them, Dipper raising his hands upwards instinctively. Mabel burst into consciousness from the racket.

"Dipper, what the heck's going on!?" she yelled, startled.

Then she saw it. Her brother with his arms raised in the air, a snapped tree trunk levitating just a few feet above him. He had a strained look on his face.

"Little help", he wheezed.

"Oh, right", she said, still taking it in.

She raised her arms too, and together the two of them levitated the tree back into place and healed the damage.

"Well, that's one way to start the day", Dipper gasped, laughing.

"Yep", Mabel huffed, laughing along with him. "So… wanna fill me in on that?"

"I think we got more powerful", Dipper said. "Don't you feel it?"

"Wow, yeah, I guess I kinda do", Mabel said, noticing for the first time the greater influx of power she felt. "Do you think we're gonna keep getting stronger too?"

"Looks that way".

"Neat-o", Mabel said, before exploding a nearby boulder with her mind.

Both of them watched with great amusement as the shards of rock rained down all around them.

"But we probably shouldn't do anymore", Dipper said. "If we use too much, we're gonna be exhausted again. We need to keep our energy to get back to the Shack".

"Oh right, yeah", Mabel said, slapping her forehead.

Worry filled her.

"I feel so bad for our Grunkles", she said. "They must be so worried about us, and I really miss them and we need to get back to them".

Dipper nodded solemnly. He didn't like the thought of his family in distress one bit. Stan had already been faced with the possibility of losing them during the Weirdmaggedon, he had spent four entire days wondering if any of his family was still alive in all the chaos. And now, to be faced with losing them again. He wondered if it would be too much for Stan to bear.

"Yeah, you're right", he said. "But first we need to figure out where we are. Are we in the Gravity Falls forest?"

A sudden shaking of the earth interrupted his thoughts. The two of them looked around for the source of the racket when all of a sudden, a Manotaur came charging out of the undergrowth, screaming for dear life as he was chased by a Beartopus, a half-bear, half-octopus monster. The two of them watched with blank expressions as the two creatures passed them by, vanishing once more into the trees.

"Definitely Gravity Falls", Dipper said.

"Okay, so we're close to home", Mabel said, because honestly the Shack really did feel like their second home. "But if we don't know where we are in the forest, how the frickafrack are we supposed to get back, bro?"

"I don't know", Dipper said. "Just… Just gimme a sec".

He went to gnawing his finger again, thinking hard on how to get back to the house. He had no idea where they were, this was a completely unfamiliar region of the woods. He supposed they could try and figure out which way was which by looking at the direction of the tree shadows, but even then, he wasn't sure where the town lay in relation to this area.

"Um… Dip", Mabel said tentatively.

"What?" he said.

It was then that he realised he was floating several feet above Mabel, levitating in the air. He let out a brief scream of surprise as he plummeted back to earth. Mabel sniggered as she helped him to his feet.

"So I guess we can fly", she said, her voice barely containing her excitement.

"Y-yeah", Dipper said, a look of shock on his face. "And I didn't even realise I was doing it".

Without further ado, Mabel concentrated hard, and slowly she drifted into the air.

"It worked!" she gasped.

A lightbulb switched on in Dipper's mind.

"Mabel that's it!" he said, snapping his fingers. "If we can get up high enough, we'll be able to see the town".

Mabel grinned broadly.

"Way ahead o' you bro-bro", she said, her enthusiasm obvious.

In an instant she was zooming upwards.

"Mabel, wait up!" Dipper said worriedly.

He lifted himself upwards, and slowly, carefully, he rose up into the air after his sister. At first he felt uneasy looking downwards, but the adrenaline (did they have adrenaline anymore?) quickly kicked in, and he picked up speed, zooming high above the forest. Soon he had a glorious view of the landscape; he could see the horizon stretching in every direction.

"OH MAN THIS IS AMAZING!" he cried, laughing joyously. He let out an enormous whoop of excitement.

He saw Mabel zooming around him, laughing as she swooped upwards and downwards, spinning and twirling in every direction.

"Mabel, how cool is this!?" Dipper called.

"I know right", she yelled back, and she zoomed towards him, her palm extended.

Dipper held out his own palm and the two of them high fived, a spark of lightning forming between their hands as they did. Then Dipper began to feel a tug, and he remembered that this was draining his energy. Remembering what he was up here for, he looked around and very quickly spotted the town in the distance, towards the west.

"Mabel, there's Gravity Falls", he said.

"Oh yeah, I see it", she called as she did a loop-de-loop.

"We should probably get back to ground before we drain all our power", he said.

"Aww, but this is so much fun", Mabel said. She knew he was right, however, and slowly, the two of them descended until they lightly touched down on the ground. Mabel was practically bursting with excitement, dancing up and down on the spot with the broadest grin he had ever seen her give, and that was saying something.

"THESE POWERS ARE THE COOLEST THING EVER!" she shrieked.

"Definitely", Dipper agreed as the two of them high fived again. He couldn't deny how awesome it was, especially thinking of the possibilities of what they could do as they grew even more powerful. He shunted aside the chilling thought of the possible downsides of all this, which was where his mind was naturally inclined to go.

"Alright, onwards to the Shack", Mabel said.

Together the two of them began to walk westwards toward the town. The forest seemed very serene today, sunbeams drifting down into the undergrowth. The two of them noticed that their senses all seemed sharper than before.

They could see more clearly than they ever had, and everything around them seemed to look even more distinctly three dimensional than it had before, if that made sense, and far away objects were just as clear and detailed as nearby objects. Their ears now picked up sounds too distant for humans to hear, and sounds which human ears could never detect in the first place. They could smell every scent of the forest for miles.

It was a little strange considering the perception of the world they were used to, but at the same time they were in awe at their newly heightened senses. Dipper couldn't help but wonder what else they could do with their senses now if they so chose, but he left further experimenting for another day. For now, his mind was set on getting home.

As they neared the town, they saw construction workers busy repairing the damage caused by the Weirdmaggedon. A brief glance at one another was all they needed to know to avoid the town. They needed Stan and Ford to know they were okay, and if they went into town they were sure to face a line of questioning from the residents. Later they would check on the town, but for now they pushed aside the thought of the rest of the townspeople, even though it was painful to think of Wendy, Soos, Candy and Grenda worrying about them too. It was the afternoon by the time they made their way through the woods and were stood before the Shack. All was silent here, the Mystery Shack closed for obvious reasons. The twins carefully glanced at one another, and then, slowly, entered through the back door.

"Hello", Mabel called. "Grunkle Stan? Grunkle Ford?"

No reply. The two of them made their way to the living room, and it was here that they saw Stan, fast asleep in his old yellow armchair. He looked restless, tossing and turning, enormous bags under his eyes. Relief and happiness flooded the both of them. He was obviously distressed, but he was okay.

"GRUNKLE STAN!" the two of them yelled joyfully.

Stan's eyes shot open.

"K-kids?" he said, unsure if he was dreaming or not.

Identical grins formed on their faces as their eyes filled with tears. A second later Stan had pounced on them, pulling the both of them into the tightest hug he had ever given as he burst into tears, sobbing unrestrainedly into the tops of their heads. Dipper and Mabel burst into tears with him, both of them feeling relief like none they had ever known.

"J-Jesus Christ", he sobbed. "K-k-kids, y-you're alive".

"C-course we a-are", Mabel said, pressing her face against his chest as yet more heaving sobs racked her body. "Y-you can't get r-rid of us that easily".

The three of them laughed between sobs. They remained like that for what must have been at least ten minutes, Stan clinging to them like his life depended on it.

"I thought I lost you" Stan said after a long silence, his voice thin and reedy. "Christ kids, I th-thought you were… you were". He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Sorry Grunkle Stan", they both said.

"Ya got nothin' to apologise for", Stan said.

He kissed both their foreheads and hugged them even tighter. None of them were ready or willing to let go just yet. Suddenly, the back door opened once again.

"STANFORD!" Stan yelled, his voice strained and hoarse.

"Stanley, what's wrong!?" came the voice of Ford.

A second later and Ford had entered the room, panic etched on his face. Then he saw the twins, and his eyes bulged. He bolted towards them, dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around all three of them. Stan and both of the twins hugged him back. Now it was Ford's turn to cry, and even though he was silent, they could feel his whole body hitching.

"Thank god", he whispered. "I thought we had lost the two of you, thank god you're safe".

The family huddle remained for at least another half hour, the relief and joy overwhelming them. Eventually though, the four of them separated.

"Christ, kids, ya had us real scared there", Stan said, tears still clinging to his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're both okay too", Mabel said.

"Never mind about us", Ford said. "We're both fine. What about the two of you? Are you hurt or injured at all?"

"No, we're fine", Dipper said. "Just glad to be back home".

"You kids are incredible", Stan said, laughing lightly. "Ain't nothin' that can beat the two o' you".

The twins smiled, quickly sharing another brief glance as they remembered that they were going to have to tell their Grunkles sooner or later.

"I… I'm so sorry", Ford said, his eyes pointed at the floor.

"What for, Grunkle Ford?" Mabel said.

"Everything", Ford said. "Every decision I've ever made. It always made things worse, and I never seemed to learn. I should never have kept secrets from you and Stan, and I should never have forced Dipper to keep it a secret from you either. There was a near apocalypse because of my life of stupid mistakes. But then, when the two of you vanished into the rift with Bill… I thought that my mistakes had killed the two of you".

"It's okay, Grunkle Ford", Dipper said.

Ford was surprised. Dipper had only referred to him as Grunkle once or twice before now.

"Yeah, don't kick yerself poindexter", Stan said, smiling. "You did good".

"Yeah, you shouldn't hate yourself just because you made some mistakes", Mabel said, "everything turned out for the best in the end, and you did great against Bill".

A small but genuine smile formed on Ford's face.

"It's kind of the three of you to say that", Ford said, "but…"

"No buts", Stan said. "You made yer mistakes, and you did everything you could to fix 'em. Everything's alright now, you crusty old nerd, so stop kickin' yerself. We don't care about your mistakes Sixer, we're yer family".

Ford smiled again.

"Thank you", he said quietly. "Thank you all".

Dipper and Mabel rushed into him and hugged him round his middle. Ford knelt down and hugged them back.

"I promise the both of you I'll do better", he said. "Dipper, I won't ever expect you to keep secrets again. Mabel, I won't push you away anymore, not now or ever again. I'm sure I'll get the hang of this whole uncle business sooner or later".

The four of them laughed, Stan clapping his brother on the back.

"Glad to hear it poindexter", he said. "Our family's gonna come outta this stronger than ever before, just you wait 'n see".

Ford relinquished his hold of the twins.

"The one thing I can't figure out", he said, "and I'm so sorry to have to put this question on the two of you so soon, but… How did you survive?"

"That's… an interesting point", Stan said. "You got sucked through that rift thingamajig, but how in the heck did the two o' you escape?"

Dipper and Mabel stared at each other intently. Then they took one another's hands, holding on tightly.

"About that", Dipper said.

"There's kinda something we need to tell you", Mabel said.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Stan and Ford stared at the nervous faces of the twins.

"Well, what is it?" Stan said gently. "Yer both okay, right?"

"We're… fine", Dipper said. "It's just… What we have to tell you might come as kind of a shock".

"Yeah", Mabel said awkwardly, "so, might wanna sit down for this one".

Neither of their Grunkles moved from where they stood.

"It's alright kids", Ford said, smiling reassuringly. "This is Gravity Falls. Most everything is surprising or shocking in this town".

The two of them each took a deep breath (unnecessary considering they didn't need to breathe, but calming nonetheless).

"Well", Dipper said. "When Bill pulled us into the rift, it took us to something called the Nexus. It's the world between worlds. It's where all universes are connected".

The elder twins wore identical baffled faces, though for different reasons.

"It was crazy in there", Mabel said, "we could see so many universes all tied together in clusters, it would have been pretty cool if it weren't for… you know, the jerkface dream demon".

"Well, while we were in there", Dipper said. "Bill absorbed a ton of the energy there to restore himself, then used it to do some… pretty horrible things to us".

They noticed Stan's fists clench, and Ford's eyes grow murderous. The both of them would have loved to tear Bill to pieces if they could.

"And then he killed us", Mabel said, a little too bluntly.

"WHAT!?" Stan yelled, deepest upset and concern etched into his voice and face. He ran over to the two of them and grabbed their shoulders. "B-But, yer here aren't you? Yer not like, ghosts or somethin', are ya?!"

"No, we're not ghosts", Dipper said. "And that's just it. We didn't stay dead".

"What do you mean?" Ford said.

"What it sounds like, basically", Dipper said. "We came back from the dead, just different. I… I don't know how we did exactly, but we sort of absorbed the energy of the Nexus into ourselves and became gods".

Stan and Ford glanced at one another, the both of them confused.

"What in the heck are you talkin' about?" Stan said.

"We came back as super powerful god thingies and beat Bill", Mabel said.

"Killed him, more specifically", Dipper said darkly.

He didn't miss the brief glimmer of vindictive pleasure that showed in Ford's eyes, but his great uncle didn't show it for long before hiding it. Celebrating Bill's defeat could wait right now.

"This… this is weird", Stan said, rubbing his temples. "An' that's sayin' somethin' in this freakshow of a town".

He went to sit down in his armchair, his eyes blank. Ford pressed on, however.

"What happened after that?" he said.

"We teleported back home", Mabel said. "And when we woke up, we were back to normal".

"Or at least it looked that way", Dipper said. "We look like we always have, but… we're still not human".

Ford's eyes were unreadable, but it was clear that he was in just as much shock as his twin slouched over in the armchair.

"So what exactly are you?" he said, as gently as possible.

"We don't know", Dipper said. "I mean, we don't have godly power anymore, but we can still… uhh".

"We still have these crazy awesome powers", Mabel enthused, and she snapped her fingers, causing the carpet to briefly light up in glowing rainbow colours, before she snapped her fingers again and reverted it back to normal.

"Yeah, that", Dipper said, laughing and awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Then, he levitated the T-Rex skull into the air, opening and closing its jaws a few time before setting it back down.

"This… this is astonishing", Ford said in a hushed voice.

"Astonishing?" Stan said. "ASTONISHING!?"

Ford and the twins jumped.

"Stanley, what…" Ford began.

"This is… I don't… Kids, I… I'm so sorry", Stan choked out, before he ran from the room.

"Stanley, wait!" Ford called, but too late as Stan ran from the house and out towards the woods.

"You two wait here", Ford said quickly before racing after his brother.

Dipper and Mabel were now left alone, awkwardly staring at one another.

"I guess he didn't take it too well", Mabel said sadly.

* * *

Ford found Stan a few minutes later leaning against a tree, his forehead pressed against the bark.

"Stanley", he said, "I know this is a little shocking, but…"

"It's terrible", Stan hissed bitterly. "I… I never should have let them come to this fucking town. Th-they're just kids Stanford. They haven't even turned thirteen yet. And now, they… they aren't even human anymore. I was supposed to protect 'em Sixer, to keep 'em safe".

"Stanley, look at me", Ford said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Stan looked up into his brother's eyes, his own eyes puffy and red.

"They're still Dipper and Mabel", Ford said. "This is unexpected and shocking to say the least, but the kids are still the kids. Human or not, nothing will change that. It's not ideal, no, but…"

"They were supposed to live normal lives", Stan said. "This should never have happened. What does this mean for 'em Stanford? What will their lives be now?"

"We'll be fine, Grunkle Stan", Mabel said.

Stan and Ford jumped, then turned around to face her, and saw both of the younger twins standing before them.

"K-kids", Stan said.

Ford was going to reprimand them for not staying back at the Shack, but then he stopped himself. He was sure Dipper and Mabel would be much more able to comfort Stan on this matter than he himself was.

"Yeah, we'll be okay", Dipper said, smiling softly. "We're not human anymore, but we're still us. And we're gonna be fine. We're alive, and that's what counts, right?"

"Of course it is", Stan said, approaching the two of them. "That's all that matters. But it's just… The two o' you kids should be able to lead normal lives. You didn't deserve this".

"Are you kidding?" Mabel said. "I love these powers. Look at the things I can do".

Looking up to the sky, she morphed a cloud into a smiley face shape. Then, she levitated a little ways into the air.

"We can fly, Grunkle Stan", she said cheerily. "This whole, not human anymore thing is super freaky and weird, yeah. But we still look and act just the same, so really, what's to be upset about? We're Mabel and Dipper, like we've always been, just with the addition of super amazing chaos powers".

"Yeah, I can't deny, this is pretty cool", Dipper said, levitating into the air besides his twin.

The twins and Ford all smiled warmly at Stan, and slowly, their Grunkle relented and cracked a smile of his own.

"Ahh, c'mere ya knuckleheads", he said, and pulled the both of them out of the air into a tight bear hug. "I'm glad yer okay. And hey, yer right, those powers o' yours could come in handy. Just think of the money I could make", he joked.

The twins laughed cheerfully.

"Are you feeling any better Grunkle Stan?" Dipper said.

"Yeah, I'm doin' alright", Stan said. "This is still easily the weirdest thing that's ever happened, but so long as the two o' you are still the same little gremlins as always, things'll be fine".

"See, I told you they would be alright Stanley", Ford said. "Now come on, let's head back to the Shack. I'm sure we could all use some refreshments".

"Yeah, sounds good", Stan said hoarsely as he placed the kids back on the ground.

Despite feeling better, Stan couldn't help but worry a little as they walked along. His mind was still in shock over this whole ordeal, and the world didn't feel real at all right now. Still, he was sure that, as with everything else he had dealt with in life, he would adjust to this in time. The kids were alive and safe now, he reminded himself, and that was all that mattered. He smiled. They were going to get through this, the way the Pines family always had.

* * *

Later, they were all sat at the kitchen table, plates of spaghetti in front of them.

"Yes, we still have tastebuds", Mabel said, her voice muffled over her first mouthful.

"Or at least some way of tasting", Dipper said. "Still, as long as it's there".

Then he crammed his mouth full of food.

"Do the two of you still feel hunger?" Ford said curiously.

Stan glared at him from across the table. Now wasn't the time to be asking questions, but he left his objections silent, since it seemed that the two of them weren't upset by his interrogations.

"At the moment, yeah", Dipper said. "I mean, it's weird. We're not human anymore, but we still need sleep, especially when we use up too much energy with our powers. And I think I can speak for the both of us with hunger. It feels different to how it did before, but… It's still there. For now".

"Whaddya mean "for now", bro-bro?" Mabel said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, we seemed more powerful today than we were yesterday, right?"

"Uh-huh".

"So I think every day we get a little stronger. I'm thinking maybe eventually we'll be able to survive entirely on, universe energy or something".

"That would make sense", Ford said.

"None of this makes sense, Stanford", Stan grumbled.

"Well, I mean considering that the two of you briefly became deities, it would seem a logical conclusion".

"That's what I figured", Dipper said, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll probably still eat though. I'd miss food".

"Do you think the two of you will ever reach that level of power again?" Ford said.

"We don't know", Mabel said, a shiver going down her spine. "It's kinda scary to think about actually. I mean, we didn't even feel like us at the time".

Stan's fists clenched. That statement was extremely worrying to him, but he didn't want to cause any further upset.

"Yeah, it was… different, to say the least", Dipper said. "I don't remember what it was like, but we could see everything, we knew everything".

"Omniscience", Ford said knowingly.

"Basically, yeah. But I wonder why we went back to normal afterwards. Why didn't we stay like we were?"

"I'm not sure", Ford said. "One would think that you would, but this… this should have been impossible in the first place. It's the grandmaster of anomalies. It's…"

"Ford, could we cut this out for a little while", Stan interrupted.

The other three looked at him. He was still a little out of it.

"Of course", Ford said. "You know what I'm like, too inquisitive for my own good".

Both of them laughed.

"Yeah, you always were a nosey nerd", Stan chuckled.

They strayed away from the topic for now.

* * *

Later on in the day, as the evening arrived, Ford passed through the living room. Stan was sat in his armchair, one of the twins curled up on either side of him, all three of them fast asleep as some kind of bizarre show about a tiger with an arm attached to its body played on the TV.

He smiled at the three of them. His brother looked to be sleeping peacefully for the first time since the twins had been taken. Stan had always had a closeness with Dipper and Mabel that he himself had never been able to attain, not even with Dipper. It was true that he had only been here a short while all things considered, but he wondered whether he would ever be as close to the siblings as Stan was.

He continued on his way, heading through to the gift shop and down into the basement. His curiosity was almost consuming him, this was an anomaly like no other. He forced his curiosity away, however. His niece and nephew weren't some kind of creature or experiment, and he refused to treat them as such. Still, it couldn't hurt to take a few notes.

They were only at the beginning of their transformation, who knew what they would eventually be capable of. If they were, as Dipper had said, getting stronger by the day, then would they eventually become as powerful as they were against Bill? Were they still gods, even right at this very moment, even though they were unable to achieve the heights of power that they had before? Perhaps they were simply still adjusting to their new state of being.

He flipped a notebook open and began to write down everything he had learned about them that day. He would have to be careful not to treat them like an experiment, but it would do no harm to learn more about them and their transformation, for their own benefit as much anything. He would never have thought it possible for human beings to transcend the laws of nature and become something so powerful, but then, after all, the multiverse was very prone to throwing surprises at him.

* * *

Dipper became distantly aware of the sound of a fountain. Slowly the sound grew louder, and it drew him out of the warm, comfortable darkness in which he lay. He sluggishly cracked open his eyelids, and waited a few moments for his blurred vision to adjust. He saw Mabel lying next to him, her eyes also open.

He tried to speak, but he couldn't. He tried to move, but was only able to slightly readjust himself. He looked long and hard into his twin's eyes, saw her questioning stare. She wasn't able to speak or move either, it would seem. Almost as if they were both asleep. Were they both asleep? Was this just a dream? It couldn't be, could it? He was certain that that was his real sister, not just an imaginary image of her. He didn't know how he could tell, but he was sure it was her.

Dipper slowly managed to roll himself onto his back to get a better look at their surroundings. They were in the middle of a gleaming white courtyard, sunlight beaming down into it. At its centre was a grandiose fountain, the one that had awoken him. He tried to move some more, but was still unable to do anything but roll into different positions.

"Ahh, it would seem our guests have arrived", a smooth, chilling voice drawled.

"Yes, it would certainly seem so sir", another, stiffer voice replied.

Dipper looked into his sister's eyes, and saw a trace of fear in them. He felt a twinge of it himself. He was unsure of what to expect. Then, two figures walked into view. The first was what appeared to be a tall, slender man with straight, black hair, wearing an armless suit with a startlingly white shirt underneath. He was the first that had spoken, Dipper was sure of it.

He looked almost entirely human, apart from the somewhat alarming four pairs of glowing green eyes. The next man that entered their view was even more alarming. His upper half looked entirely human, rotund, with short, combed brown hair and a pitch black suit, but his lower half was effectively a giant centipede body. Dipper tried to keep calm. What did these beings want with them? Were they even real, or just a dream?

"Well, this is surprising", the first man said in his smooth voice, cracking what resembled a warm smile. "Gaston, what do you make of these two?"

Gaston, the centipede man, said,

"They appear quite unremarkable on the surface, sir. It appears that mortals are capable of a lot more than I once suspected if these two little specs were able to attain godhood".

"Indeed", the first man said. "Not at all what I was expecting. Human beings are normally quite the unremarkable species, but perhaps I underestimated them. Greetings to the two of you", he said. "My name, or at least the name that is palatable to formerly human ears such as yours, is Jacques".

Dipper and Mabel stared intently at the bizarre man, wondering just what he was planning to do with them.

"The two of you attracted quite the spot of attention", Jacques said, his unnerving smile remaining. "It would seem that the two of you attained godhood and destroyed the famous Bill Cipher. Good riddance, I say, I was never his biggest fan".

He began to circle them.

"I'm quite impressed", he said. "The two of you achieved what many thought impossible. Even demons such as myself and Gaston here would not be capable of it, and yet you two tiny little mortal specks of carbon made the energy of the multiverse your own. This should be quite impossible, and yet, here you are. The bizarre nature of reality surprises us once again".

He chuckled at his remark.

"Colour me intrigued", he said. "I've brought you here today as mental projections to get a look at just who caused the monstrous energy spike that has created ever such a racket amongst the interdimensional community. I expected elder sentinels, or some other such powerful being, and yet, I am met with two little ex-humans. Astonishing. Yet it seems that as you are at the moment, you are unable to access your power, apart from a tiny little fragment of it. You are, as of this moment in time, nought but fledgling deities, having barely flown the nest of godhood. But I can sense it. I can sense your increasing strength, little by little, earth day by earth day".

A great hunger seemed to loom in those glowing green eyes, and it sent a shiver down Dipper's spine. Next to him, Mabel was looking wild eyed.

"I think for now, I shall keep an eye on you", Jacques said. "You have my interest, little twins. Let's see if you become something a little more worthy of the title deity. The two of you may yet prove to be very useful to me. We may not meet again for a while, but I strongly suspect that a second meeting shall indeed come to pass between us. Perhaps in person next time, too. Ta ta for now, fledglings. Come, Gaston".

And with that, Jacques walked away, the centipede man crawling after him. Dipper was flooded with relief. What he had said had been disturbing, but they were unharmed for now. Dipper looked briefly into Mabel's eyes, saw that she too seemed relieved, then, without warning, he sank back into darkness.

* * *

Dipper awoke slowly, his eyes heavy as he opened them. He looked around himself and saw that he was still curled up to Stan in the dimly lit living room, the TV still on. Looking out the windows, he saw that night had fallen. He was confused. He felt certain that he had just had a very vivid, very real dream. Too real almost. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, no memory of the dream would surface. For now, however, he was too tired to care. He closed his eyes, nestled into his uncle once more and fell back into a deep sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

The feeling of what they were to become. The sense of their overwhelming power just beyond reach, power beyond any known to man. Stars and galaxies, so many of them. A vision of the earth's end, the aged planet consumed by the expansion of the sun. A brief flicker of the expansion of their perceptions. The uneasy feeling of being watched by four pairs of glowing green eyes. Then, it all pooled away into the recesses of their minds, and slowly the two of them woke from their cosmic dreams.

Dipper's eyes opened slowly. He blinked repeatedly, not quite readjusted to reality yet. The things he had seen in his sleep had been quite different from his old dreams. They felt more like a glimpse of omniscience than simple constructions of the brain. It was something quite alien, to say the least, and he knew that Mabel had experienced the same, though he wasn't sure how.

It was something that was going to take some getting used to, to say the least. Trying to push it aside for now, Dipper settled himself back into reality, taking in the living room and the warm morning light streaming into it. He looked around him and realised that Stan must have woken up already, as it was just himself and Mabel, nestled up against him, that remained in the chair. Her eyelids opened, and it seemed to Dipper that for a fraction of a second her eyes glowed white. Had his done the same when he first woke up?

"Did you have the…"

"Yup", Mabel said, confirming his suspicions.

"Weird dreams, huh?"

"Yup", she said again. "Just what in the heck was that bro?"

"I don't know exactly, but I guess… since we're different now, our dreams are different too. And we dream together apparently".

"Weird".

That pretty much summed it up, Dipper thought, slowly readjusting himself into a sitting position. He ran a hand through his hair as Mabel also sat up.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something though", Dipper said, biting his lip. "Like, do you feel there's a dream you're not remembering?"

"Yeah", Mabel said. "I can't think what it was though, but it feels… creepy. I'm sure we saw something majorly creepy, but I just can't remember".

"Me either. I don't know if it was real or not, but considering what we just saw, I'm inclined to think it was".

Mabel shrugged.

"Oh well", she said.

"Oh well?" he said incredulously, cocking his brow.

"Hey, I'm sure if it's something important we'll remember it sooner or later".

"I guess so".

They fell into silence for a short while afterwards, just soaking in the reality around them. It was unnerving that what they had seen in their dreams might one day be how they saw the world. It was strange to imagine their perception of the world being so different, so elevated. And all the while, they were becoming all the more aware of the power boost they had. They felt at least twice as powerful as the day before.

"Hey Mabel", Dipper said, breaking the silence at long last.

"Hm?" Mabel said.

"I've been thinking. Do you think we can make things out of thin air?"

"Huh", she said. "I hadn't thought about that. Everything we've messed with already existed, right?"

"Yeah. I mean we can change things into other things, but with that the matter already exists. I mean, it should be impossible to make something out of nothing, but then, none of this should be possible".

"Guess it's worth a shot", Mabel said.

Dipper nodded, then raised his hands into the air. Summoning all of his strength, he willed a pebble to come into existence. He felt something, he felt like it was working. And yet, to his dismay, nothing happened. All he knew was that it fed on his power a lot more than their usual powers. He supposed it required a lot more energy to conjure matter out of nothingness than it did to mess with pre-existing matter. Still, it was frustrating.

"I guess we can't right now", he said, sighing.

"Lemme try that", Mabel said.

She raised her hands up the way Dipper had, and contorted her face into an intense glare of concentration. For a second the space between her hands distorted, but still nothing came of it.

"Dang it", she said, dropping her arms down again.

"Still, you felt something, right?"

"Definitely", she said. "Feels like we're super close to it".

"Yeah, can't be much longer before we can do it".

Mabel was about to reply when a sudden yell of,

"KIDS, COME QUICK", erupted from outside.

Dipper and Mabel glanced briefly at one another, then threw away the blanket that was covering them and leapt to their feet. They raced out of the living room, through the back door when all of a sudden…

"WHAT THE!" they both yelled as they were swept up into a tight bear hug and their ears were met with cheering. Taking a few moments to realise what was going on, they soon looked up to see that they were being hugged tightly by Soos, and the rest of their friends were all gathering around them, applauding and cheering ever louder. Their faces broke out into identical grins. Soos set them down, and they were both hugged in turn by Wendy, Candy, Grenda, Pacifica and Old Man McGucket.

"OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS", Mabel yelled in delight. "IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, OH MY GOSH!"

"Woah, this was unexpected", Dipper said, laughing heartily as he was hoisted into yet more hugs.

"I'm so glad you little doods are safe", Soos said tearfully.

"Yeah, I can't believe it", Wendy said. "You doofuses had us really worried".

"We're sorry", Dipper said. "We should have told you sooner, I…"

Wendy held up a hand.

"It's okay dude", she said.

Meanwhile Mabel was in the midst of a group hug with Candy and Grenda.

"We were so worried Mabel", Candy said.

"Blaargh, I'm sorry girls", Mabel said, a few loose tears falling from her eyes.

"This is the best day EVER", Grenda enthused.

Old Man McGucket danced around the assembled group, laughing joyously. In the meantime, Pacifica awkwardly made her way over to Dipper.

"Hey", she said.

"Oh, hey Pacifica", Dipper said.

"Look, I… I'm glad you and Mabel are okay".

"Well… thanks", he said, scratching the back of his neck.

She quickly hugged him before walking off to reunite with Mabel. For a while there was more excited chatter and conversations between those assembled, before, at long last, they were interrupted by Stan clearing his throat.

"Alright knuckleheads", he said, smiling warmly. "Everyone's all caught up. Now let's not forget, we defeated an "all powerful" demon schmuck, saved the world, and now the kids are back home safe. Victory is royally ours!"

The assembled group cheered victoriously.

"So I figured, since we're basically the biggest group of heroes on this entire damn planet, I might, as a special exception, splurge some money on somethin' for all o' you to celebrate our victory".

"Who are you and what did you do with Grunkle Stan?" Dipper called out, to the laughter of the assembled group.

"Yeah yeah, alright you little smart aleck", Stan said, laughing and rolling his eyes. "Alright everyone, come on round to the front o' the Shack".

Stan led the way as the group followed him, Mabel on Soos' shoulders and Dipper on Wendy's. As they reached the front, they saw a large wooden table spread out before the shack, a wide array of delicious food assembled on it.

"Hero's breakfast!" Stan proudly announced.

"Woah", Mabel said. "Grunkle Stan, you're the best".

"I'm aware", Stan said, grinning.

"Stan, this is the most generous thing you've ever done", Wendy said. "I'm impressed".

"Yeah, well enjoy it while it lasts", Stan said, chuckling.

The group gathered round the table, and began piling their plates high with the food, Dipper stacking up waffles and syrup, Mabel assembling pancakes and bacon. Soon the table was alight with cheerful conversation as everyone ate, all of them feeling more grateful than ever to be alive after the ordeal they had endured. Finally, Mabel seemed to realise something.

"Hey, where's Grunkle Ford?" she said.

"Huh, that's a good point actually", Stan said. "Dumb nerd musta stayed up all night again. Gimme a sec, I'll go get him up here before all the food's gone".

Stan stood up and walked away from the table. Heading into the gift shop, he punched in the vending machine code and headed down into the basement.

"Hey Stanford", he said as he entered the laboratory. "Come get some food before it's all gone".

He saw Ford sprawled out over his worktop, still deeply asleep. All around him were many notes and diagrams. It only took Stan one glimpse at them to see what his brother had been doing. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed as he took in everything Ford had written about Dipper and Mabel.

"Hey, wake up", he said, jostling Ford's shoulder.

Slowly, Ford roused from his slumber, mumbling something incomprehensible before he seemed to take in reality.

"Stanley?" he said drowsily.

"Yeah", Stan said, crossing his arms. "Mind explainin' this?"

Ford looked to his notes scattered around the worktop.

"Stanley, I was just…" he sighed. "I'm trying to learn more about them to help them out is all. Surely it's better for them to know more about what they've become? They're going into this entire thing totally blind, without knowing anything about it. The more informed they are, the better, right?"

"Ford, I know you", Stan said. "You start off with good intentions, but you always get in too deep. You say yer only doin' it for the benefit of the kids, but… I know this whole thing has you curious, that's just how yer brain works. Look, all I'm sayin' is, by all means learn more about em to help em out, but… Don't go too far like you always do. Don't treat them like an experiment, 'cause they're not, Stanford. They're yer niece and nephew, and don't you forget it".

"I'm well aware of that", Ford said. "I have no intention of treating them as experiments, Stanley. I've learned enough from my mistakes to not hurt my family like that, alright?"

Stan stared him down for a few seconds longer, then let out a long, slow breath.

"Alright", he said tentatively. "Just don't forget it".

"I won't", Ford said. "I promise".

Another brief pause during which the brothers looked one another in the eye, Stan mentally searching his twin. A moment later, he broke the silence.

"Well, come on out and get some breakfast", he said. "The food's good, so come get it while it lasts".

"Yes", Ford said, smiling warmly. "I think that'd be nice".

* * *

Over the course of the morning, all of the food was finished off, and everyone was satisfyingly full, a feeling they'd all come to appreciate far more since having to survive on bare essentials for days.

"So Mabel", Grenda said. "Have you thought anymore about what you guys are gonna do for your birthday?"

"WOAH!" Mabel said. "I forgot all about our birthday. Heck, I've totally lost track of time, when even is our birthday?"

"Um…" Candy said. "It's August 30th today, so tomorrow I think".

"WAIT, WHAT!?"

"Oh man, I forgot all about that too", Dipper said, scratching his head.

"Dipper, this is big!" Mabel said. "We only have until tomorrow to prepare! We're gonna need to kick into emergency party planning mode!"

"Woah, Mabel, calm down", he said. "That's plenty of time, I'm sure with our birthday prep skills we can make it work just fine".

"You're right, you're right", she said, calming herself down. "But I think after everything we went through, we DEFINITELY need to make sure this is gonna be the greatest party ever".

"Don't you worry, sweetie", Stan said. "Yer Grunkle's on the case. Much as I regret sayin' this after the zombie fiasco, I think it's okay if you wanna use the Shack".

"Thanks Grunkle Stan", Mabel said. "Now come on Dipper, we've got a lot of planning to do".

She grabbed her twin and unceremoniously dragged him away from the table toward the house.

"Woah, Mabel would you just…"

"Nope. We'll see you guys later", Mabel said cheerily. "Thanks so much for coming to see us".

"Bye guys", Dipper said, laughing as he tried in vain to slow Mabel down.

They were met with a wave of farewells from their friends before they vanished inside. Slowly, the group disassembled and began to leave, thanking Stan before they did.

"Do you want any help cleaning this up Mr. Pines?" Soos said.

"Yeah, I'll stick around too if you want", Wendy said. "I may hate cleaning up, but we owe you Stan".

"Nah, that's alright", Stan said. "But… there probably is somethin' we should let the two o' you in on".

Ford gazed at him quizzically.

"Stanley, do you really think it's a good idea to…"

"Yes", Stan said, cutting Ford off. "I know you haven't seen much o' these two, but they're practically family, alright".

"Uhh, is everything alright?" Wendy said.

"In a manner of speaking, yes", Stan said.

"So, what's going on?" Soos said.

Stan looked at each of their quizzical faces in turn, before he sighed.

"Okay, I'm gonna let the kids tell you themselves, but this may well come as… something of a shock".

* * *

Stan made his way upstairs. He could hear the twins chattering excitedly amongst themselves. He gently knocked the attic door before entering.

"Hey kids", he said.

"What's up Grunkle Stan?" Dipper said.

He looked at the matching questioning expressions on their young faces. It made him feel a twinge of pain again. Powers or not, these kids shouldn't have gone through what they went through. He pushed his mind away from the subject for now.

"Hey, we've got Soos and Wendy downstairs", he said. "I was just wonderin'… if you wanted to tell 'em what happened?"

The two of them glanced briefly at one another, then nodded.

"Yeah, we kinda did forget to tell anyone about the whole… not human anymore thing", Mabel said. "We should at least tell Wendy and Soos".

* * *

Downstairs, Ford, Soos and Wendy sat in an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them had spent much time in Ford's company before, so it was a little awkward to say the least. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long before Stan returned to the living room.

"Alright, they're comin' down", he said. "Just… be prepared for this, alright".

Wendy and Soos both looked very uneasy. However, when a hole opened up in the ceiling and the twins floated down through it, their unease turned to downright bafflement, their eyes bulging as Dipper and Mabel sealed the hole again.

"Uhh", Wendy said. "Is this real right now?"

"Dood, that is majorly weird", Soos said.

"Yyyeeeaahhhh, this is a little awkard", Dipper said, he and Mabel still floating a little ways in the air.

The other two remained silent, staring wide eyed at the twins.

"Okay, so I know Gravity Falls is weird", Wendy said, breaking the silence, "but this is probably the weirdest thing I've seen here. You… you guys mind filling us in on this?"

Settling down on the ground, the two of them explained everything that had happened with Bill in the Nexus, every part of their story seemingly driving their friends deeper into shock and awe.

"So yeah, basically we're not human anymore and we have these funky powers", Mabel said, finishing the story.

"So… this is a little strange", Wendy said. "But, you guys are okay, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much", Mabel said. "I mean this is still like, super weird and it's gonna take some getting used to, but I think we're gonna be okay. And who could complain about the powers?"

"Yeah, that… that part's pretty rad doods", Soos said, trying his best to overcome the shock of it all.

"Are you guys okay with this?" Dipper said.

"What do you mean?" Wendy said.

"I mean… this is pretty weird, and if you're like, too freaked out or anything…"

"No way", Wendy said. "I mean sure, it's freaky as all hell, but you think we're gonna ditch you guys just 'cause your not human anymore? It's not that easy to get rid of us".

She flashed them a queasy but very genuine sharp toothed grin.

"Yeah, we're here for you all the way", Soos says. "I mean it's kinda cool that you guys have like, video game powers now, you know".

"Yeah, I guess it kinda is", Dipper said.

The twins both still seemed a little uneasy.

"Come on, stop looking so uncomfortable", Wendy said reassuringly. "Come here dorks".

She grabbed both of them into a tackle hug, sending all three of them into laughter.

"Soos, get in here", Wendy said.

"On it", Soos said, wrapping his arms around the other three in a tight group bear hug. Off to the side, Stan and Ford stood watching the cheerful scene, as Wendy noogied the twins and all four of them laughed.

"See, I told ya poindexter", Stan said.

Ford's face spread into a small smile.

"Yes", he said. "It seems… so long as there are people like your two employees to support them, Dipper and Mabel will be just fine".

"Nice to hear that from you", Stan said, grinning at his brother. "It's pretty different, comin' from a shut-in like you".

Ford elbowed his brother in the ribs, setting them both off into chuckling and reminding them of their childhood years.

"The only thing I'm worryin' about", Stan said, "is that they're goin' back home in just a couple o' days. I have no idea how anyone is gonna explain this to their parents".

* * *

 **A/N: This to me wasn't exactly the strongest chapter. I'm not great at writing dialogue scenes with that many characters to be honest, but I wanted to do a big reunion scene, so here it is. Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Oof, this became a monster of a chapter, that's for sure. This is much bigger than the average Twin Deities chapter, but in all likelihood, the future ones probably won't be this big for the most part. Sorry this took me so long, this chapter was a little stubborn to write, but here it is now. Enjoy :)**

CHAPTER SIX

Their emergency party planning went on well into the evening, until, by the end of it all, their room was filled with boards covered in writing and illustrations, and the floor was coated with posters plastered in yet more writing and diagrams. Now, Dipper leaned against his bed, while Mabel lay flat out on her back, levitating gummy koalas into her mouth.

Dipper looked around at their work. Much of it was Mabel's doing.

"Wow", Dipper said. "And I thought I was supposed to be the crazy planning twin".

"You still are", Mabel said, giggling. "Just figured I oughta take the load off your shoulders sometimes, bro".

"Yeah, sure that's the reason", Dipper said, smirking and flicking a screwed up piece of paper at her.

"It's kinda weird how fast we were able to do all this though, huh?" Mabel said.

"I guess so", Dipper said. "I suppose we can just do things faster now that… you know".

"Yeah, that must be it".

A brief pause.

"Does this feel kinda weird to you?" Dipper said.

"What do you mean?" Mabel said.

"I mean… We just became powerful, reality warping almost-teens, who could one day be the most powerful beings in existence… and we're planning a party".

"Well yeah", Mabel said, staring at him incredulously. "You think just because we're inhuman weirdos now that we're not gonna celebrate out birthday? We're about to become teenagers bro-bro".

"Yeah, you're right", Dipper said. "I suppose just because we're… whatever we are now, doesn't mean we can't enjoy what we've always enjoyed".

Still, a small part of him wondered what exactly thirteen years was even going to mean in thirteen billion. That sent a jolt through his mind. He shoved it away, far too uncomfortable a notion to consider. They couldn't possibly still be around that far in the future, gods or not. Right?

"Although, do you think… Do you think we should tell everyone what we are?" Mabel said.

"I don't know", Dipper said, wiping his brow.

"I have to tell Candy and Grenda at least", Mabel said.

"Fair enough", Dipper said. "But… maybe we should keep it a secret to the rest of the town, for now you know".

"I guess so", Mabel said, though she looked uncomfortable with the notion.

The last time big secrets had been kept in the Pines family, it had eventually resulted in Bill nearly bringing about the apocalypse, after all. But they couldn't be sure if the townsfolk would be feeling all that welcoming to the supernatural after Weirdmageddon.

"KIDS, FOOD'S READY", Stan called up the stairs.

A few minutes later they sat at the kitchen table eating platefuls of steak and fries.

"So, how's the party plannin' goin'?" Stan said.

"Pretty well", Mabel said cheerfully, "I think we've got pretty much everything sorted out now".

"We'll just need to go get some supplies from town tomorrow morning", Dipper said.

"Yeah, alright", Stan said, chuckling. "I guess there's no harm in spendin' a little extra on you kids".

Dipper and Mabel shared an incredulous glance.

"Grunkle Stan, first the big breakfast, now this? Are… are you okay?" Mabel said.

"Hey, I'm fine", Stan said in a tone of mock hurt.

"Still, it certainly seems as though you're shedding your old habits", Ford said.

Stan shrugged.

"My old habits are what kept me alive during those ten years o' homelessness", he said. "And also what made keepin' this craphole house o' yours goin' for thirty years possible. But really, I don't need 'em so much anymore. I've got my family back in my life, and that's really all those habits were ever meant for".

The other three smiled.

"We never minded", Dipper said.

"I know", Stan said appreciatively.

For a little while, they ate on in silence, though the twins noticed that Stan glanced uncomfortably at them from time to time. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Listen, kids", he said. "This is… I think… we need to bring up a little something".

"What is it Grunkle Stan?" Mabel said.

Stan and Ford glanced nervously at one another.

"It's about your parents", Ford said.

Dipper and Mabel froze. They turned to stare at one another.

"Oh man, that's a good point", Dipper mumbled.

"Yeah", Stan said, scratching the back of his neck. "It's only gonna be a couple days before yer headin' home. What exactly are you gonna tell your parents about your disposition?"

"I don't know", Dipper said, clearly deep in thought.

"Maybe… maybe we shouldn't", Mabel said quietly.

The other three stared at her.

"Mabel, are you sure?" Dipper said. "I mean keeping it a secret from the town is one thing, but from our parents? I would have thought you'd hate doing something like that".

"Well, yeah, of course I do", Mabel said. "But think about it Dip. The people we know here are used to weirdness, it's just a part of their lives. But mom and dad, they've never seen any of it bro. Imagine all of a sudden they have kids that aren't even human anymore with crazy chaos powers. It might be too much for them".

"You're probably right sweetie", Stan said. "Maybe… I don't know, maybe they don't need to know".

"But surely it would be impossible to keep it a secret forever", Ford said. "Wouldn't it be better to tell them now, rather than have them find out about it later?"

"Maybe", Dipper said. "But I think… Look, maybe it should just be temporary. Just while we're still getting used to this whole… god situation. Give it a while, and maybe we'll figure out how to soften the blow".

"Yeah", Mabel said.

"I suppose" said Ford. "I'll trust your judgment kids".

"Thanks Grunkle Ford", Mabel said.

"Now hey", Stan said. "Maybe we should move on to more cheerful subjects. After all, this is the second to last night you kids are gonna be here, we should make it worthwhile".

"Aww, man", Mabel said. "When you word it like that it's really sad. We only have one day left in Gravity Falls".

"Hey, don't you worry kiddo", Stan said. "We'll see you again next summer, remember".

"I know", Mabel said, still a little downhearted.

"Hey, come on, cheer up", Stan said. "It's only nine months until yer back".

"Still, it's gonna suck a little leaving", Dipper said with a sigh. "I'll miss this town. Suburban California just isn't gonna hold up to it".

"I'm sure you'll be alright", Ford said. "Stanley and I always managed to find things to do back in Jersey when we were kids, so I'm sure you'll find ways to occupy yourselves back home".

Stan smiled warmly. It was nice to hear Ford speak so fondly of their childhood after all this time. They ate the rest of their meal in silence. Once they were finished, Stan said,

"Alright you two, go play outside for a little while, eh? I've got something I wanna set up for you".

Mabel barely supressed a squeal.

"Oooohhh, I love surprises", she said.

"Just as long as it's not anything like your last surprise", Dipper said.

"Hey, I already told you, the bats weren't supposed to escape", Stan said, laughing and reaching over to pull Dipper's hat over his eyes.

"Huh, I guess we haven't used our powers much today, have we?" Dipper said once they were outside.

"Oh, you're right", Mabel said excitedly. "Let's see how much we can do bro".

Mabel stretched her arms out and focused all of her power into the ground. Her face screwed up in concentration as she heaved with all her might. Dipper watched in amazement as a great mass of stone rose up from the ground.

"Whoa", he said. "How'd you even know that boulder was there?"

"I just felt it I guess", Mabel said, shrugging.

"Lemme try that".

Dipper did as his sister had and focused on the earth around him, and sure enough, he could sense the prescence of everything underground, every worm, every rabbit in the nearby burrow, every rock and every buried bone of woodland creatures.

"Weird", he said.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool", Mabel said.

Another boulder lay near Mabel's, buried a little deeper, but with all his might he nonetheless hoisted it out of the ground.

"Nice, two boulders", Mabel said, then used her powers to slam the two of them together into one. Then, she chiselled away at the larger rock until it was a perfect replica of one of the Easter Island heads.

"Not bad sis", Dipper said. "But I think I have a better idea".

He remoulded the stone until it was in the shape of a ring.

"Hey, don't destroy my art", Mabel said, putting her hands on her hips.

"You can put it back afterwards", Dipper said. "But I have a fun idea".

"Well, I do like fun", Mabel said. "Intrigue me".

Dipper smiled deviously. Within the next few minutes, the ring was levitating up in the sky as the twins took turns trying to fly through it while the other twin shifted it through the air. At Mabel's turn, she gave her brother no mercy as she flung it all over the place.

"Hey, come on Mabel, that's just evil", he called as he missed it yet again.

"Not my fault you're a big slowpoke", she called back, cackling diabolically.

Once he finally managed to get through it and he was in control of the ring again, Dipper didn't even make it that difficult, but as Mabel flew through the ring, he shrank it around her midriff, trapping her.

"Hey", she yelled, giggling.

Dipper laughed, a smug look on his face.

"Not my fault you're a big slowpoke", he said.

Mabel transformed the rock into a big heap of snow and dumped it on her brother, laughing diabolically at him. Dipper fought his way to the surface, only to be divebombed from above by his sister. The tangled mess that was the twins wrestled in the pile of snow in a flurry of playful laughter, Dipper shoving a handful of the snow in Mabel's face.

"Alright, now it's on", Mabel said. "SNOWMAN BATTLE!"

She took half the snow and formed it into an instant snowman, levitating two branches into its sides for the arms, and sticking on several stones for its face. Dipper grinned and did the same for the other half of the snow, and each twin gave their snowman an extra branch for a sword.

"I challenge thee, Lord Dippingsauce of Dorkonia", Mabel yelled.

"Challenge accepted, Lady Mabelton of Doofland", Dipper yelled back. "CHARGE, SIR FROSTY".

"CHARGE, SIR ICEBUTT", Mabel yelled.

They propelled their snowmen toward one another until the two of them were whacking their makeshift swords together, duelling ferociously with one another until Sir Frosty ran Sir Icebutt through with his blade.

"Oh woe is me, my greatest warrior is felled", Mabel cried in a tone of mock despair.

She melted her snowman until it was nothing but a puddle full of branches and stones.

"And lo, Sir Frosty was victorious", Dipper said. "Sadly, twas then that the bomb implanted in his head by the diabolical forces of Doofland exploded".

Dipper blew up his Snowman's head, covering himself and Mabel in the resulting water splash. The two of them laughed up a storm as the rest of Sir Frosty melted away. It was then that Stan appeared at the back door of the Shack.

"Alright kids, come on in", he said.

The two of them briefly glanced at one another, wondering what their uncle had in store for them, then ran over to join him.

Stan lead the twins through the house, both of them feeling a little worn out after having gotten extensive use out of their powers.

"We're still not exhausted though", Mabel said. "So that's good".

"Yeah, I guess we really are getting stronger every day", Dipper said. "We used our powers for quite a while there, but there's still some energy left".

"Alright", Stan said, stopping in front of the museum staff entrance and turning to face them. "You kids ready?"

They both nodded. Stan's face split into a big grin. Then, he opened the door and lead them inside. They gasped at what they saw. Inside, Stan had cleared out the museum floor. He had put a multitude of coloured lights on the walls. At the back of the museum, an old movie projector was fastened to the wall, and at the front of it, a large foldable screen was hanging down from the ceiling.

"Whoa, Grunkle Stan, this is amazing", Mabel said, her eyes wide.

"Gotta say, this is pretty cool", Dipper said, grinning.

"Yeah, well, I figured I should do somethin' special for our last family night together, ya know", Stan said, a pleased expression on his face. "So I figured I'd bust out the old projector and the screen and make our own movie theatre for the night

"So what's the plan?" Dipper said.

"I think I got some good ones lined up", Stan said.

Ford entered the room behind them, carrying two enormous buckets of popcorn.

"I've still got it", he said, nodding his head towards the popcorn.

Stan stuffed a few pieces into his mouth. His eyes lit up.

"Yeah, not bad Sixer", he said. "Now that's the taste o' childhood right there".

Dipper and Mabel looked to each of their uncles in turn.

"Stanley and I used to have movie nights back when we were kids", Ford said. "We had to avoid waking up our parents, but we got pretty good at it. We'd sit up late watching movies, and I was the designated popcorn maker. I'm still pretty good at it now, try some".

They each shrugged and took a handful of the popcorn.

"Wow, you weren't kidding", Dipper said.

"That's… the best popcorn I've ever had", Mabel said in a hushed voice of awe.

Ford chuckled appreciatively.

"I know the perfect ratio of butter to sugar", Ford said.

"Alright, enough popcorn gloating poindexter", Stan said amusedly. "Now are we gonna watch some movies or what?"

The other three went to take their seats, having been provided with a large squashy cushion each at just about the perfect distance from the screen. Stan loaded up a film reel and set it going, then took his seat beside the others. The first movie they watched was an old Sci-Fi movie about gigantic space worms arriving on a meteor and invading the Nevada desert. Ford's eyes lit up throughout its duration. He remembered this film from his youth. He had loved these sorts of corny B-movies, and after so many years away from his home dimension, it was nice to see the movies he loved once again. It took him back, and seemed to have the same effect on Stan. The four of them made a running commentary throughout the film, making up mock dialogue for the characters and worms, laughing and generally having a good time. Next they watched an old Kung Fu movie with terrible dubbing, a surprisingly emotional movie about two battling giant monsters played by men in suits from Japan, a detective thriller from the 30's, and so on they went well into the early hours of the morning, laughing, crying, generally having a good time. Stan surveyed his family and sighed contentedly. After all these years, he had his family back, and now here they were, sat together in a night of peaceful family fun. By now, Mabel was lying with her head in his lap, and Dipper was leaned up against Ford, who had his hand resting on Dipper's shoulder. His heart faltered a little as he thought of the kids going back home. He was going to miss them too much for his own good, he knew he would. But he had his brother back now, so perhaps, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Early the next morning, Dipper was startled into consciousness when an enormous scream of joy erupted into his ears. He jolted up right.

"WAZZGOINON!?" he slurred.

"DIPPERDIPPERDIPPERDIPPER!" Mabel shrieked. "IT'S OUR BIRTHDAY!"

"Oh yeah", he said, rubbing his eyes and beaming. "But geez Mabel, did you have to wake me up like that, you scared me half to death".

"Sorry not sorry", she said, bouncing up and down on the spot.

Dipper hopped out of bed.

"We're actually teens", he said. "That's crazy".

"I knoooooowwww", Mabel said. She flung her arms around Dipper and hugged him so tightly that if he still needed to breathe he would have been winded. Dipper smiled at his sister's enthusiasm. Mabel was already excitable, but their birthdays and Christmases made her even more so.

"Alright, let's head downstairs", he said. "I bet Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford are waiting for us".

"Oh, you're right", she said. "Let's see what's in store for us".

The two of them changed into their day clothes before Mabel raced out of the room, a few bolts of electricity running through her hair from her sheer excitement. Dipper went to follow her, but then, something halted him. He felt something, something in the back of his mind. He didn't know how to describe it, but it was as if there were some kind of door there. He didn't know if Mabel felt the same, but considering how excited she was, he was guessing she hadn't noticed. Frowning, he reached out and mentally tugged at the door. Nothing happened.

"DIPPEEEEERRRRR, COME OOOOONNNN", Mabel called from the stairs.

Snapping out of his daze, he headed out of the room after Mabel. He'd have to try again later, but for now he put his curiosity aside. Mabel was waiting half way down the stairs, her arms crossed and tapping her foot.

"What took you so long bro?" she said.

"Sorry", he said. "I was just… never mind, doesn't matter".

The two of them made their way down to the bottom floor, and headed into the kitchen. Neither of their Grunkles were there. Or in the living room, or anywhere else for that matter.

"Where are those old geezers?" Mabel said.

"Guess we should check outside", Dipper said, shrugging.

The twins made their way to the back door, and upon opening it were met with a wall of noise.

"SURPRISE!" an entire crowd yelled.

Before them the entire town was gathered in the yard of the shack, along with many of the supernatural creatures of the town. A big arched sign had been erected which read _HAPPY BIRTHDAY MABEL AND DIPPER!_

The twins stared in shock as the townsfolk all cheered for them. Stan and Ford emerged at the front.

"Happy birthday kids", they said.

"Oh my gosh", Mabel gasped. "You guys, this is, it-it's amazing".

Dipper remained speechless, staring at the townsfolk.

"We figured we'd make this day extra special", Stan said. "So we invited the whole town, and not a single one of them declined. We recruited Wendy and Soos to help us, so don't forget to give them a thanks too".

"It was really quite remarkable", Ford said. "Yet it doesn't surprise me in the least. The two of you saved the world, the both of you are heroes".

"I don't know what to say", Dipper said. "Thanks everyone".

Mabel burst into tears of joy and raced forward to hug everyone in turn. Dipper walked through the crowd with her, receiving greetings and pats on the back as he did.

"Yer a true MAN!" Manly Dan roared.

"You kids are my favourite customers", Lazy Susan said.

"You got 'em", Mayor Tyler said.

"You fellers are the best darn thing to ever happen to this here town", McGucket hollered.

"You kids got yourselves into a lot of trouble", Blubs said, "but you sure made this town a lot more interesting", he finished with a chuckle.

"A true hero, and a true Babba fan", Multibear said.

"Compared to the two of you, even we Manotaurs are soft and weak", Chutzpar said.

And so it went on for the next half hour or so, until each of the townspeople and creatures had greeted the twins. Finally, Dipper found Mabel in the midst of a group hug with Candy, Grenda and Pacifica, Wendy and Soos off to the side.

"Happy birthday, doofus", Wendy said as Dipper approached them.

"Yeah, happy birthday dood", Soos said.

"Thanks guys", Dipper said. "Seriously, this is really awesome".

"Hey, couldn't give you guys your big sendoff without a bang", Wendy said as she hugged him.

"Totally", Soos said, a few tears bubbling up in his eyes. "Oh, oh man, I'm gettin' emotional already. COME HERE DOOD".

He pulled Dipper into a tight hug.

"This is so cool", Dipper said, beaming. "I would never have expected the whole town to show up".

"I know right", Wendy said. "You dorks really left an impact", she said with a sharp toothed smile.

"Dipper, get over here", Mabel said, beckoning him over to the group of girls.

"Coming", he said.

As he reached them he was yanked into yet another group hug.

"Happy birthday to you also, Dipper", Candy said.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY", Grenda yelled enthusiastically.

"I guess I should say happy birthday too", Pacifica said as the hug was ended. "I hope it's a good day for you guys".

"Thanks, guys", Dipper said, smiling appreciatively.

"How could it not be a good day Pacifica?" Mabel squealed. "Look at all this".

Dipper was only just taking in how much had been set up here. There were tables upon tables of food, another table stacked high with presents, and all around them the rides and attractions Stan had used for the fair had returned all around the Mystery Shack's yard. Nearby, a boombox had been switched on and now blared out party music. It was then that Stan and Ford re-emerged from the crowd to greet them. Mabel practically flung herself at Stan and then Ford, hugging each of them tightly around their middles.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU", she yelled.

"You're more than welcome", Ford said, chuckling as he ruffled his niece's hair.

"Hey, did you ever think yer old Grunkle Stan was gonna do anything but the best for you kids' birthday?" Stan said. "I took those plans you two made yesterday and added to it tenfold".

"Thanks", Dipper said, touched. "I really mean it".

"Don't mention it kid", Stan said, smiling warmly.

"How did you even do this though?" Dipper said. "All these rides and attractions".

"I had 'em put up after you kids went to bed last night".

"Haven't… haven't you slept at all?" Mabel said.

"Eh, I'll sleep when I'm dead", Stan said, laughing. "I can go days without sleep".

"That's… probably not healthy for humans like you, but I can't really talk", Dipper said.

He froze. Had he seriously just said "for humans like you"?

"That… came out weird", he said.

"Never mind that now", Ford said. "Just go and enjoy your day, both of you. You've earned it".

And enjoy it they did. The party went on all throughout the day, and the twins had just about the best time of their lives. By midday, Soos was DJ-ing from a nearby platform. Dipper was paraded by Wendy and her friends, Mabel and the girls were firing glitter bombs. The food was all excellent, and it seemed that the townsfolk had all brought a little something along with them, such as Abuelita's dinosaur cookies, and Lazy Susan's pies. Upon opening their presents, they were greeted with all sorts of things, from little trinkets, to hand knitted socks, to home made confectionary. From old man McGucket, they were each given a small flying death robot. Dipper's fired a beam of plasma into the air, and a smoking fly dropped dead before it.

"Whoa, cool", he said. "Thanks McGucket, this is awesome".

"Aww, pish posh", McGucket said.

The day waged on, the party progessing into the evening.

"This is the best birthday ever", Mabel yelled delightedly when her and Dipper met up again.

"I know", Dipper said. "Not gonna lie, this really is the coolest".

"I hope it's like this every year", Mabel said. "I think they really like us here bro".

"Looks that way", he said. "And look, everyone's accepting the supernatural creatures".

"You're right", Mabel said. "I guess since they helped save the world, everyone loves them now".

"Yeah. It's weird though, I mean nobody even knew about them before Weirdmageddon, and now it looks like they're gonna be a normal part of life in Gravity Falls. People are surprisingly open around here, gotta give them credit for that".

"Yeah", Mabel said. "Oooh, are you thinking that maybe we can tell them about… you know".

"Well… maybe, actually", Dipper said. "Maybe not right now, but sometime today, we might be able to, you know, let it out".

"Wow Dipper", Mabel said. "I've never heard you sound so trusting".

"Huh, I guess not", Dipper said. "Times change I suppose".

"They sure do", Mabel said. "Ooohhh, that reminds me, I haven't told Candy and Grenda yet. And Pacifica too, since she's a part of our girl squad now. Catch you later, bro".

She made to leave, but Dipper grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Mabel, wait", he said. "I need to ask you something".

"What is it Dip?" she said, cocking her brow.

"Do you feel anything… new today?"

"You mean… new god stuff?"

"Yeah. Like, just focus on your mind for a sec. Do you feel it?"

Mabel concentrated for a few seconds, before she noticed it. Her eyes widened.

"Oh yeah", she said. "It feels like… like…"

"Some kind of door?"

"Yeah, that", she said. "What the hey-hey is that broseph?"

"I have no idea. I've been trying to open it up a few times today, but I haven't got anywhere with it".

"Well… maybe now isn't such a good time to open it", Mabel said. "I mean we don't even know what it is Dipper, so maybe we should wait until later rather than try to open it up in front of all these people".

"Yeah, I guess you're right", Dipper said.

"Now come on bro, AWKWARD SIBLING DANCE!"

Before Dipper could even consider objecting, Mabel yanked him away and the two of them began to dance together. It was a crazy, rhythmless dance, but neither of them cared as they laughed joyously, jigging back and forth with their hands joined together.

* * *

Eventually, the day became a little quieter as the evening progressed yet further, until dusk was settling on the town. The music became a little quieter, the atmosphere calmer. Dipper had stopped to rest for a while at a table on the outskirts of the party.

Now, he was noticing the door in his mind once again. Mabel was right, he had no idea what it was, best not to try opening it right now. But it couldn't be anything harmful, surely. If it could cause harm, wouldn't he know it instinctively? Looking around, he saw that nobody was focusing on him at the moment. They were all too distracted by the party. Getting up from his table and distancing himself from the townsfolk a little, standing near the edge of the trees, he probed at the door again. To be truthful, "door" was an inadequate description of what it felt like, but it was the closest comparison he could conjure.

Poking at it with his mind, he was overcome with curiosity once again. He pulled on it, but once again nothing came of it. He tried again, and again and again, but nothing happened. He pulled harder and harder until he was glaring in frustration. He wasn't going to be bested by this, whatever it was. He grabbed a hold of it and pulled with all his might, yanked it harder than he ever had anything. Suddenly, without warning, his efforts worked, and it snapped open. In an instant he was overcome with agonizing pain. He collapsed to the floor as his vision became pure white, and his ears were filled with a shrieking, roaring cacophony of sound.

Suddenly, information shot into his head, more and more knowledge filling him. He knew so much about so many things, information from across the universe drowning him. He saw everything, saw what was to come. He saw the death of the earth, the death of the universe itself, the infinite expanse of time that was awaiting him and Mabel, with no release ever to be found, no end to their lives, no limit to their boundless power, seeing countless universes be born and die in the infinite sea of universes.

It was too much, too much was flooding into his head all at once, and it hurt, it was the most agonizing thing he had ever experienced, a blinding, piercing pain beyond any a mortal could experience. He couldn't stop it, couldn't stop the storm of information, couldn't stop the unbearable agony, the sensation of his entire body, mind and soul burning. Please, please someone make it stop, he begged.

* * *

One moment Mabel had been dancing with Wendy and Soos, the next an earsplitting scream had rent the air. The scream went on and on without end as the music was halted and worried murmurs ran through the crowd. That voice was all too familiar.

"DIPPER!" Mabel yelled.

She ran through the crowd as fast as she could, following the sounds of her brother's agony, her breathing rapidly becoming panicked. What the hell was going on? Pushing her way through the last few townspeople, Mabel saw him. He was lying flat out on his back, his entire body writhing and spasming as his endless scream continued. Mabel gasped as she looked at his eyes; they were wide open and glowing pure white. She gasped and ran to kneel at his side.

"Oh no, Dipper no, what's wrong, WHAT'S WRONG?"

Her hands went to her mouth as tears began to flood from her eyes. She didn't know what to do, she couldn't stop what was happening and it was scaring her. Suddenly, she felt a tug on her senses. Whatever was happening to her brother was connected to her too it would seem, and it was pulling her down, down into the darkness. Whatever had happened to Dipper was happening to her too now, and already she was feeling the beginnings of agony.

NO, she thought, resisting it. I have to help Dipper, I won't let this beat me. And it was then that she knew. She didn't know how, but she knew what she needed to do to help her twin. Not entirely certain what it even was she was doing, she did it nonetheless. In an instant, her eyes lit up white like Dipper's. She placed her hands on either side of his temple and, somehow, she pulled up a well of her power from some unknown part of her soul and coursed it into Dipper, sent it flowing through him. A few seconds later, Dipper's screaming came to a halt, and slowly, his body settled down too until it was completely still.

His eyes closed, and at last, he seemed to have been pulled out of whatever horror he had been experiencing. Mabel's eyes returned to normal, and she slumped over, heaving for unneeded but nevertheless reassuring deep breaths. She was exhausted. Whatever she had just done had sucked her dry of power, that was for sure. Slowly she regained her composure and tended to her brother.

"Dipper?" she said. "Dipper, wake up. Please Dipper".

She was about to panic again at his lack of response when Dipper inhaled deeply and his eyes shot open. Sitting up, he looked around himself, looking more lost than she had ever seen him.

"Dipper?" Mabel said tentatively.

"MABEL!" he yelled, and flung himself into her, hugging her tightly.

He burst into tears, sobbing hard into her shoulder.

"Dipper, what's wrong?" Mabel said worriedly, rubbing his back.

"M-M-Mabel, I… I opened t-the door Mabel, I-I-I saw everything, I-I, it's too much, oh god it's too much", he said, his speech rapid.

Seeing her twin in such distress broke Mabel's resistance, and she burst into tears too, sobbing into her brother's shoulder.

"Dipper, it's gonna be okay", she reassured.

"N-no, it's n-not Mabel, oh god you didn't see it, but I did and it's too much", he gasped, his whole body hitching with every sob.

"Dipper, what is it, please just tell me what you mean".

"I saw s-so much Mabel, so much. W-we're immortal Mabel, I saw it, I really saw it. W-we can never die, we're going to be around forever. Everyone we love is g-gonna d-die around us and we'll still be here, forever, and we'll see the universe die and it's just too much, I can't face eternity Mabel, I just can't".

"Shh, it's okay", Mabel sobbed, rubbing her brother's back more. "It's okay Dipper, it's all okay".

"IT'S NOT", he roared.

"It's all gonna be okay", she continued to reassure.

Truth be told, everything Dipper said was distressing, but she needed to keep herself together as much as possible for her brother right now. Slowly, over the next few minutes, their sobbing slowed to a halt until only silent tears ran down their faces. Mabel pulled away from Dipper and placed her hand on his face. He leaned into her touch as she wiped away his tears.

"Dipper, look at me", she said.

Dipper's eyes, so full of horror and fear, gazed into hers.

"It's all gonna be alright, okay?" she said.

"How can you say that?" Dipper said, his voice thin and reedy.

"You wanna know why it's gonna be okay?" Mabel said, her lip quivering. "Because we're gonna get through it together. Facing eternity is gonna be hard, and weird, and kind of awful. But it's all gonna be okay, because we will always, always have each other. I'll never leave you Dipper, I promise, so you will never, ever have to face eternity alone, and neither will I. Okay?"

Dipper slowly nodded, his breathing calming a little.

"Okay", he whispered.

"G-good", Mabel said.

She was trying very hard not to burst out crying again, seeing him so full of emotional pain. She settled instead for pulling him into another hug. She placed her forehead against his, and slowly, the two of them calmed down yet more. Mabel could feel all of Dipper's muscles unclench, could feel his shaking come to a halt. Finally, they felt stable enough to pull away from their hug. And it was then they noticed the attention they had garnered. The townspeople had formed a big circle, gazing wide-eyed at the two of them. The twins stared in alarm.

"Alright, outta the way", Stan yelled.

He shoved his way through the staring crowd until he was stood before the twins, alarm and concern etched into his features. Ford, Soos and Wendy appeared beside him a few seconds later, all of them looking with greatest concern at Dipper and Mabel. Stan looked at the state the twins were in. Without speaking a word, he scooped both of them up into his arms and began to run back towards the house.

"Alright, party's over", he yelled.

A short while later, Dipper was sat in Stan's armchair in the living room, a blanket wrapped around him and a mug of hot chocolate in his shaking hands. Mabel sat beside him, clutching his shoulder. Stan and Ford stood before them, both looking concerned.

"Dipper", Stan said gently, looking his nephew in the eye. "What happened out there?"

"I… think I opened up my omniscience", Dipper said. "My head was flooded with so much information, and it was too much".

"How did that happen?" Ford said.

"Well, at the start of the day, I felt something new", he said. "In my mind, I could feel something".

"Like a door", Mabel said. "I felt it too today".

"I didn't know what it was, but I… I forced it open", Dipper said. "And it overwhelmed me. My head still really hurts".

"Alright, well avoid doing that in the future", Stan said. "It's obviously bad news".

"Yes, I would advise the same", Ford said. "Evidently, as you are, you're not yet powerful enough to withstand the weight of omniscience. Tell me Dipper, did you retain any of the information you saw?"

"N-not much", Dipper stammered. "I mean I think I know a few new languages and the entire history of a planet in the Andromeda galaxy called Morothgar, but that's about it".

"As I thought", Ford said. "Your mind is not yet susceptible to absorbing so much information and you were unable to keep it there. Probably for the best. Look, Dipper, Mabel, I want the both of you to avoid opening this "door" for the foreseeable future, at least until you're powerful enough to withstand it".

The twins nodded in unison. Neither of them had any intent of messing with omniscience after tonight's harrowing experience.

"The townspeople", Mabel said. "They all saw us".

"It's gonna be okay sweetie", Stan said. "You kids are heroes around here now. I'm sure, even if they're weirded out by it right now, that it won't take 'em long to come round. You'll see, by the time you kids get back here next summer, it'll be just like normal to 'em".

Mabel smiled warmly.

"Thanks Grunkle Stan", she said.

"It's no problem", Stan said. "Now, just gimme a second, I'm gonna go grab some movies, and the four of us'll watch 'em here in the sittin' room together. Nothin' better to take your mind off things than another family movie night, eh?"

With that he gave Dipper one final sad look and took his leave, heading off upstairs.

"And if you'll excuse me, I think I ought to go get some ice for your head", Ford said "it'll help to soothe the pain". He too left the room.

Dipper took a long glug from his hot chocolate, a stray tear escaping his eyes. Mabel squeezed his shoulder.

"You holding up okay Dipdop?" she said.

He turned to look her in the eye.

"Mabel", he said. "What… what am I?"

The pain in his eyes was almost too much to bear. Mabel once again supressed the urge to cry. She wrapped her arms around Dipper and nuzzled her cheek against his.

"You're my brother", she said. "Same as always".

Dipper closed his eyes and leaned his head into her shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her too and hugged her back, easing himself into her arms and taking a deep, calming breath. So long as he had Mabel, it was all going to be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow, it's been almost three weeks since the last chapter. First off, I'd like to apologise for making you wait so long. I don't have any excuse, I'm just a terrible procrastinator and have some tricky spells of writer's block with certain stories. I'm gonna try to get better with that, but I unfortunately can't promise anything. But worry not, I fully intend to keep this story going. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

At first, Mabel was aware only of the strange dreams that now seemed to occupy every night. Incoherent visions of various things. A distant star going supernova, a glimpse of the asteroid that had brought the age of dinosaurs to an end, a brief peek into the lives of the Gnomes in the Gravity Falls forest, a snapshot of sentient mushroom people on a far off world. Then, she felt a tug on her senses, and she was pulled out of the strange dream.

She became aware of consciousness, and her heavy eyes slowly opened. She was lying at the trunk of an enormous tree beneath a sea of stars. Unfamiliar stars, she realised, not something she would have taken notice of back when she was human. But now… certain things were going to change whether she liked it or not, that much she knew. Seeing Dipper's burst of omniscience was enough to make that reality sink in.

She sat up and sleepily rubbed her eyes, yawning deeply. Looking around, she saw that the tree was rooted in the centre of a long, grassy plain. Just where the heck was she? She got to her feet and began to walk through it.

"Dipper?" she called.

There came no reply. This entire field was completely silent apart from a distant, calming white noise coming from nowhere in particular. Scattered throughout the field were small flowers of crimson and gold, and star-like sparkles rose from the ground. It was very pretty, Mabel thought, but she still had no idea where she was. Yet strangely, she felt no worry or alarm, she just felt… calm, and comfortable, like she was meant to be in this strange, ethereal landscape.

"Dipper?" she called again.

Still no reply. She went onwards across the lengthy field, the tree growing ever further away, until, at long last, the edge came into view, dropping off into nothingness. And there, sat with his back turned to her and his legs crossed, was Dipper, staring off into space. Following his gaze, she saw… oh wow, how hadn't she noticed that before? An entire galaxy was visible, close enough to appear larger than the moon would. She stared at it long and hard, taking in its beauty, thinking how there would be hundreds of millions of stars in each arm of the massive spiralling structure.

"Wow", she said in a hushed voice.

She went to sit beside Dipper, and together the two of them stared at it some more. Mabel had no idea if any of this was real or not, but it sure as heck looked it.

"Dipper, where are we?" Mabel said.

"Our mindscape", he said.

"Wait… you mean like that one time when we followed Bill into Grunkle Stan's mind?"

"Basically, yeah".

"But… I thought everyone has their own mindscape, so what do you mean by "our" mindscape? And how do you know that's what it is?"

Dipper sighed deeply.

"I… may have retained a little more information than I told Ford about".

"But… why didn't you tell him?" Mabel said, tilting her head slightly and cocking her brow.

"Because… I… I don't know", Dipper admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I… For some reason, I just didn't want to tell him everything I knew. I didn't keep much secret from him, but… a few things. This is one of them. When I came out of the omniscient state, I just… knew about this place, and how to access it. When we died, our mindscapes died with us. But then, we were reborn, and so were they… only, they sort of got mashed together and formed a single mindscape, one that we apparently share".

"But why?"

"I don't know. I guess… Remember how when we beat Bill, we sort of talked and moved in unison?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I think that means we're linked Mabel. I mean we already have like, a natural connection as twins, so I guess when we were reviving ourselves with the same power source, our minds, souls and power became intertwined, and now, we're connected in every sense of the word. I mean we acted in unison when we beat Bill, we have the same dreams, and now the same mindscape too".

"Whoa, weird", Mabel said. "I guess I never thought about it that way, but… you're right, bro. Like, it's almost amazing that we're still two separate people".

"Yeah, that… that's something I'm grateful for. We still got to stay ourselves, we still got to be individuals. But there's no denying that we're connected now".

"Well, that's not so bad, is it?" Mabel said.

Dipper smiled.

"Yeah, I guess not", he said. "But it's still… freaky, you know?"

"You know I know", Mabel said, trying to wrap her head around all this.

There was a brief silence.

"It's kinda scary", Mabel said. "Thinking about all this stuff. I mean, the cool powers are one thing, but, they come with a price, don't they? Now, with all that weird omniscience junk, and who knows what else we'll be able to do eventually. I'm… scared that it's gonna change us bro-bro".

"I'm scared too", Dipper admitted.

The two of them linked hands, both of them noticing that the other was trembling a little.

"I felt… really lost, Mabel", Dipper said, a few tears in his eyes. "Just… really, really lost. I wasn't myself, it just felt like my individuality was drowning at the bottom of an ocean of information. All the secrets of the universe flooding into your head like that, it's… terrifying".

Mabel squeezed his hand, staring at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Not great, but okay. I just… I never wanna repeat that again, but… given that we have an eternity waiting for us, I can't help but think that at some point we're gonna have to delve into the whole omniscience deal again at some point. But that terrifies me, because the pain, the sense of losing yourself and becoming nothing but a small part of what you are, that's… that's terrifying, Mabel. Just, thank you for getting me out of that".

"It's no problem, bro", Mabel said, attempting a grin but not quite managing it. "You know, I nearly got pulled into it too".

"Wait, what!?" Dipper said, his eyes bulging in alarm.

"I guess, because of that connection, you being in that state was pulling me into it. But then I just… did my thing, and you were back, and we were both okay. I don't even know what I did Dipper, I just did it without even thinking".

Dipper grimaced.

"Sorry", he muttered.

"Dipper, stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault", Mabel said.

"I was the one that opened the door and went into the omniscience, this WAS my fault".

"No, it's not", Mabel said, frowning. "You didn't know what it was. There was no way you could ever have known. We've only been what we are for a few days Dipper, accidents are gonna happen. Okay?"

Dipper looked away before nodding.

"Okay", he mumbled, not entirely sincerely.

Another silence overcame them.

"So how did you even get us here?" Mabel asked after a while.

Dipper shrugged.

"I just sort of… knew how to do it after what happened. It's like walking out of a room, only in your mind, and rather than walking from one room to another, you're walking from one reality to another".

"I guess that makes sense", Mabel said, having the feeling that after this first visit, she too was going to be left with an instinctive knowledge of how to get here. Unlike the time they had followed Bill, it didn't require a ritual of any sort, either. They could just do it now. Eventually, they'd probably be able to access other people's mindscapes, just the way Bill could. That made something in her mind click, and her eyes bulged at the realisation.

"What?" Dipper said, worry all over his face.

"Dipper… do you ever think… is it weird how similar our powers are to Bill's?"

It was Dipper's turn for his eyes to bulge.

"Oh, wow, yeah", he said, a lilt of horror to his voice. "Reality warping, entering the mindscape freely, omniscience… that's… really unsettling, actually".

"But how?" Mabel said. "He was a demon, right?"

"Well, I thought so, but… do you think we're not the only ones like us, Mabel?"

"Wh-whaddya mean?"

"I mean think about it, there's an infinite multiverse out there. We can't possibly be the only beings in all of existence to be like us. Maybe… Maybe Bill was created the way we were".

"But Bill was super shocked when he saw us, we were nothing like anything he'd ever seen before".

"Well, what if it's not supposed to happen on this scale? Maybe whatever happened to Bill gave him powers like ours on a much smaller level, with more limitations. I mean for one thing, he was totally stuck in the mindscape before Weirdmageddon. And even afterwards, his power had limits, his omniscience had a LOT of blind spots, but with us? I don't think so. We have true omniscience, we can really know everything when we get powerful enough to withstand it. And you remember our fight with Bill, we had infinite power, we were so, so much stronger than he was, he was nothing to us. So maybe our transformation has happened to others in the past, but maybe, just maybe, it's never happened on such a massive scale before. We're the first ones that are this powerful, the first ones that absorbed so much energy, the first ones that can really be called… well… gods…"

Mabel gawped at him long and hard.

"Words… not… I… what the, I, uh…"

"Yeah, it's weird", Dipper said.

"But then… why did we get limits afterwards? Why didn't we keep all the immense power and junk?"

"I… don't know exactly, but to hazard a guess, I'd say, since our souls are so knew to the whole infinite power deal, they couldn't keep it up for long. So for now, we've been locked out of that power. But I don't think that's gonna last, sis. We keep getting more powerful with every single day that goes by. Eventually, we're gonna be like we were when we fought Bill".

Mabel's heart hammered against her chest.

"I… I don't know if I really want that", she said.

"No, me either", Dipper said.

"We were so different then Dipper. Like, really, really different. Scarily different. We weren't even like the same people when we were like that".

"I know. But, you know, maybe by the time we get to be like that, we'll have learned to control it more. Maybe we'll be able to retain our sense of self better, you know".

A few tears threatened to spill from Mabel's eyes. She batted them away irritably.

"I hope so", she said in a hoarse almost-whisper. "You don't think… if Bill was made the way we were, does that mean… could we end up like him? I mean what if Bill wasn't the way he was when we knew him? What if he was good or at least decent once, but the power got to his head and the amount of time he was alive made him go crazy and stuff. What if that happens to us?"

"No way", Dipper said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "It's like you said to me when I was freaking out. We'll do this together. There's no one I'd rather spend eternity with than you Mabel, and I know, together, we can figure this out. We'll find a way to stay us, to keep our individuality and prevent ourselves from ever becoming like Bill. We're not like him, we're better than he ever was, and there's no way in hell that I would ever let you become like him, or you would let me become like him, because we're not like Bill, we're nothing like him, and we'll never, ever end up like him".

"You promise?" Mabel said.

"Yeah, I do", Dipper said. He smiled warmly at her. "There's nothing we can't accomplish together, Mabel. Like you told me, we're gonna be okay because we're gonna do this together, every step of the way. We'll find a way to make sure you stay you and I stay me".

Mabel returned his warm smile.

"I love you dorkface", she said, pulling him into a hug.

"Love you too, goofus", Dipper said, tightening their embrace.

They held the hug for a minute or so longer, before finally letting go.

"So hey", Mabel said.

"Yeah?"

"If we're in the mindscape right now, that means we can do whatever we want without limit, right?"

"Yeah, I mean we could do that even when we were human. I guess since technically it's not real in the traditional sense of the word".

"Then in that case", she said, grinning deviously.

She pointed her index finger, and from thin air she conjured a gigantic, flying rainbow squid. It was bigger than any living thing imaginable, flying a short distance away from the floating island they were sitting on. It drifted through the air, leaving a trail of rainbows wherever it went.

"Okay, so that's cool and all", Dipper said, "but… why?"

Mabel shrugged and made the "I dunno" noise.

"It's weird to think we'll be able to do that in real life eventually", Dipper said.

"Yeah", Mabel said, grinning. "That's gonna be awesome. Just think of all the things we'll be able to create. Like ice cream, puppies, laser sharks…"

"Machines that make the portal look like child's play", Dipper said, chuckling at the thought of the kind of experiments he could get up to with Ford now. Briefly the thought of eventually creating entire universes flickered through his mind, but such power was a long way away, and frankly it made him uncomfortable, remembering what they had been like when they had fought Bill. For now he let the thought go and focused on the present.

"That's gonna take some practise though", Mabel said. "I mean we can't make anything at all out of thin air yet".

"No, I guess we can't", Dipper said. "So for now, the mindscape is just gonna have to do".

He conjured a glowing castle sitting on a newly formed floating island, drifting a short distance away from their own island.

"Whoa, what's in there?" Mabel said.

"No idea. Wanna go find out?"

He proffered his arm and smiled at her. Beaming at him, she linked her arm with his.

"Definitely".

And together the two of them began to fly across the gap between the two islands, the two of them conjuring up whatever stupid junk came to their minds as they went. It may not have been real, but it was certainly fun, and for now, a good distraction from the future that faced them.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dipper and Mabel awoke simultaneously, their eyes drifting open at the same time. Briefly Dipper could have sworn he saw a brief glimpse of real stars in his sister's eyes. He probably had in fact, thinking about it. They were nestled close together in Mabel's bed, their arms wrapped tightly round one another. After the trauma of the previous night, the two of them had clung to one another like limpets, quivering more than a little as Mabel had whispered reassurances to Dipper, reassurances meant for the both of them.

"Hey", Mabel muttered drowsily.

"Hey", Dipper replied, putting on a soft smile. "So… that whole mindscape thing".

"Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Yeah, definitely. But… weird too, you know…"

"Hey, if we're gonna live forever, might as well have a place all our own, you know", Mabel said.

Dipper nodded.

"That's true".

"How's your head Dipster?"

"Eh, still kinda hurts a little, but it's not so bad".

"Good".

There was a brief silence, during which Dipper tightened his embrace on Mabel, simply glad to have her there.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, you know", he whispered.

"Probably go crazy".

They both laughed.

"I meant it though", Dipper said over his chuckles.

"Same to you, stupid", Mabel said. "What the heckers would I ever do without my big dorky bro?"

"Well… I guess we'll never have to find out".

They subsided into another silence, Dipper closing his eyes and letting out a long, low breath. Mabel folded back his bangs and kissed his forehead on the birthmark.

"We're gonna be okay", she said, closing her eyes too.

She was only reiterating what had been said the previous night, but heck, it needed saying again.

"I know", he replied.

It was then that they heard the attic door softly open, the slow padding of feet across the wooden floor.

"Yeesh, too much cuddlin' goin' on in here for my liking", came Stan's voice.

They opened their eyes and looked up at him, chuckling softly at his joke.

"Hey, cuddle time is important", Mabel said as she ended the embrace and sat upright, stretching her arms and legs.

Stan chuckled again and ruffled his niece's hair before sitting down on the end of the bed.

"How you feelin' kiddo?" he asked Dipper.

"Well, not a hundred percent", Dipper said as he groggily rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat upright too, "but better".

"Glad to hear it", Stan said.

He smiled warmly at them, but both of them could see the sadness in his eyes.

"What's wrong Grunkle Stan?" Mabel said. "Why are you sad?"

"There's a lotta reasons right now sweetie", Stan said. "But I think top o' the list today is you kids goin' home".

Mabel gasped.

"I forgot all about that", she said.

She threw herself into Stan and hugged him round the middle.

"I don't wanna go", she said, pressing her face into his stomach.

Stan hugged her back.

"I don't want you to go either", he said, pressing a kiss against the top of her head.

"Come on Dipper, get in here", Stan said.

Dipper quickly stretched his limbs before going over to Stan and allowing his uncle to sweep him up into a group hug. He squeezed the both of them like his life depended on it.

"I'll miss you Grunkle Stan", he said.

"I'll miss you too, kid".

They remained in their embrace for a minute longer before Stan released the two of them.

"But hey, let's not be too sad, eh? Yer gonna be back here next year, so it won't even be that long before you two see me again".

"We know", Mabel said, giving him her biggest, toothiest smile. "But you better expect to be called every day".

"And she means EVERY day", Dipper said, smirking.

Stan laughed heartily and noogied the both of them.

"Wouldn't have it any other way. Now come on, Ford's cookin' breakfast".

"Can he… Can he actually cook?" Dipper asked sceptically, grimacing sheepishly.

"Yeah, Ford's always been a decent cook", Stan said. "Surprising for a big work obsessed nerd like him. Now come on, those bacon and eggs ain't gonna eat themselves".

Following Stan out of the attic, they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen. Upon entering, they were met by a familiar handyman and redhead.

"Wendy! Soos!" Mabel yelled joyously, her face lighting up.

"Hey little doods", Soos said.

"Sup dorks", Wendy said, giving them her sharp toothed grin.

"Hey", Dipper said. "Come to see us off?"

"You know it", Wendy said. "But… also to check up on you two. That was… that was pretty intense last night".

"Yeah, we wanted to come and see you right away", Soos said, concern etched all over his face. "But… Mr. Pines said you needed space last night, and he was probably right and stuff".

"Y-yeah, sorry 'bout that and all", Stan said. "Just thought… given the circumstances it'd be better to wait til the mornin', ya know?"

"It's fine", Wendy said. "But… how are you doing after last night Dipper?"

"Still a little shaken, but a lot better", he said.

He looked away, a guilt ridden look on his face.

"I'm sorry for giving you guys such a scare like that".

"Hey, don't apologize", Wendy said. "It was YOU that was suffering dude, you don't need to apologize to us for anything. Besides, you guys are new to this whole freaky jam, accidents like that are gonna happen. But… just what in the heck was that guys?"

Dipper and Mabel took a seat at the table along with Stan.

"Um… well", Dipper began to awkwardly explain. "It's.. I sort of… opened up my omniscience".

"Whoa, dood, is that like, the thing where you know everything about everything?" Soos inquired.

"Basically", Ford said from over at the stove. "By the sounds of it, Dipper received a rush of information. Thank goodness Mabel did what she did. Otherwise, who knows what could have happened. It might not have stopped until Dipper had all the knowledge of the multiverse".

Dipper felt deep rooted discomfort at that thought. Even though he'd lost most of what he'd learned, he knew that at the time he had learned some deeply disturbing things about the universe and the nature of reality itself. There were some things one was better off not knowing.

"Yeah… that basically", Dipper said. "Hurt like hell, too".

"Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that dude", Wendy said, frowning apologetically.

She gave him a quick one armed hug. Soos meanwhile looked fit to cry almost.

"That… that sounds pretty rough", he said.

"Hey, it's not so bad Soos", Dipper said, smiling encouragingly. "I'm okay now. It's not gonna happen again now that I know to avoid opening it".

Soos smiled back.

"Yeah, I know dood. Just… just take care of yourselves back home, okay?"

"We will", Mabel said. "Me and Dipper have always got each other guys, so don't worry too much".

"You sure you're gonna be alright back in California?" Wendy asked. "I mean, nobody there is gonna know anything about to you two".

"It'll be weird", Dipper said. "I mean we're gonna have to keep our powers a secret, but… you know, if we need to talk to anyone, you guys are always here to call and video chat, right?"

"Of course we are", Stan said. "I mean, I don't know nothin' about video chattin' yet, but I'm sure Wendy and Soos can teach me about that stuff, uhh, whatever the heck it is. But whenever either of you need to talk to me or Ford, you can call us. Any time of the day, be it the middle o' the mornin' or the middle of the night, doesn't matter to us one bit".

"Yes, I quite agree", Ford said. "I understand that keeping this whole ordeal a secret from your peers will be trying, so if you need an understanding ear, Stan and I will always be here".

"Thanks", Dipper said, "all of you, I mean it. Thanks so much".

"Don't mention it dude", Wendy said. "We're your friends, we're always gonna be here for you. I mean it's gotta kinda suck, you know, going somewhere that nobody's gonna know about it".

"It's better than everyone knowing about it like here", Mabel said morosely, gazing down at the floor.

"Hey, don't freak out about that", Wendy said. "The people in this town won't turn their backs on you just because you've got some funky superpowers".

"But you saw the way they were all staring at us", Mabel said.

"They were just worried", Wendy said. "Trust me on this guys, you two are heroes, everyone loves you. They're not gonna turn against you just 'cause you're a little different now".

"Are you really sure about that?" Dipper said, grabbing his arm anxiously.

"Yeah doods", Soos said. "When we were heading over here, everyone we saw on the way was asking about you guys. They were all super worried about what happened last night".

Dipper and Mabel turned to look at one another, their faces lighting up.

"That's great!" Mabel said. "They still love us Dipper".

"Of course they do", Ford said. "They'd have to be utter fools to turn against you after you beat Bill".

"Most of the people in this town are utter fools", Stan said. "But they're good people, and they look out for the people they care about. And you kids have really left an impact, ya know. They care, and that ain't gonna change".

"Yeah", Wendy said. "So even if no other town in the world understands, the people here always will. You'll always have a home here in Gravity Falls, no matter what".

Dipper felt a surge of gratefulness. Mabel felt fit to burst from happiness, tears shining in her eyes.

"Ooooohhhhh, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" she yelled, and hugged Soos and Wendy in rapid succession.

"No problem little doods", Soos said. "And even if they didn't understand, you'd still have us. You two are like, our best friends".

"That's true", Wendy said.

Stan was beaming. He'd certainly chosen the right people to be his employees, for sure. It was then that Ford came over to the table and began plating up eggs and bacon along with slices of toast, cooked to perfection.

"Aw, sweet!" Wendy said. "Mr. Pines, these look awesome".

"Yeah, thanks Mr. Stanford", Soos said, practically drooling.

"You're both very welcome", Ford said. "And feel free to call me Ford. I ought to get to know the two of you better as is".

A short while later, the six of them went for a walk through the Gravity Falls woods to allow the twins to say goodbye to their stomping ground. The ground was damp and the air smelt of pine trees due to rainfall that had come in the night. Morning light broke through the trees in sunbeams. For the most part, silence reigned over the forest, only the occasional birdsong and trickling of streams permeating it.

"Oh man, I'm gonna miss this", Dipper said. "It's weird to think, I hated being out in the middle of nowhere back at the start of the summer, but now I can't ever picture being anywhere else. I'm gonna miss nature".

"Me too", Mabel said. "I can't wait to get back out here again".

"Yeah", Wendy said. "Honestly, when you live around trees your whole life, you sort of take it for granted, you know. But then, when you really think about it and appreciate it, that sort of junk, you feel really grateful for it".

"Oh yeah, totally dood", Soos agreed. "I mean, for years I never really even thought about the forest and stuff. Wasn't til you two showed up that I started, you know, feelin' really happy about it again".

"It's weird", Stan said. "I mean, back in Jersey I never lived near trees. And then I spent all those homeless years traveling around, but I usually tended to stay around civilisation more, ya know. But bein' out here for thirty somethin' years, it really becomes a part of you".

"It almost makes you forget that it's filled with horrifying monsters", Dipper said.

"Well, don't forget that the horrifying monsters are only a part of the paranormafauna in these parts", Ford chuckled. "There are the more pleasant creatures, too. They, and even the monsters really, are a big part of what makes these forests as beautiful as they are. As unique and special as they are".

"Of course", Dipper said.

"There's still so much out here to see, huh?" Mabel mused. "So much has happened all summer, but I bet we haven't even scratched the surface".

"That's true", Dipper said. "But to be honest, I think after everything with Bill, I could use a good long break from the supernatural. Although, I suppose that might not be so easy, given that we ARE the supernatural now".

"Huh, yeah, never really thought about it that way", Mabel said. "We really are a part of Gravity Falls' weirdness now".

"You dorks were a part of the weirdness way before this whole transformation deal", Wendy said, getting a laugh out of all of them. "And I wouldn't have it any other way", she added affectionately.

"Oh hey", Soos said. "I don't know if this is like, kinda bad of me to ask or anything, but… can you doods show us some more of your rad powers?"

The twins shared identical grins.

"Yeah, totally", Mabel said. "What's the point of having these funky powers if you don't get to show them off? HA'CHA!" she yelled as she jabbed her finger at the nearest tree and transformed it into a wooden sculpture of Soos. There came murmur of wonder from the others.

"Whoa, thanks Hambone", Soos said.

"No problemo, Soos. I am but a humble artiste", Mabel said with a mock-gloating expression.

"it's quite impressive how you're able to attain such detail with such little effort", Ford said. "That's an admirable piece of work there, Mabel".

"Yeah, ain't half bad", Stan said, though that was an understatement on his part.

"You think that's good?" Dipper said. "Then check THIS out".

He transformed a thick cloud overhead into the serpentine shape of a Chinese dragon and had it fly down into the woods around them, moving sinuously and dynamically. It circled around them for a little while, before Dipper transformed it back into water and had it form a translucent great white shark, which remained in place in the air before them, snapping its jaws. Dipper grinned as he looked at the expressions of wonder on everyone's faces.

"Yeah, gotta say that's just a little cooler", Wendy said. "Sorry Mabes".

"Meh, I could do better", Mabel teased.

With a flick of his wrist, Dipper had a part of the water fly off of the shark and splash his sister in the face. She giggled unrepentantly.

"Alright, now step aside brozo", she said as she wiped her face dry on her sweater sleeve before making a few lithe movements with her hands and transforming the water shark into a small castle of ice.

"Ooh, fancy", Soos said.

"Heh, you kids are gettin' real good with this magical junk", Stan said. "I'd almost say I were proud of the two of you, were it not for this cold, black heart of ice", he added jokingly.

It was then that all of them felt a disturbance in the air, a fluttering wind rising out of seemingly nowhere.

"Goodness, I haven't seen that in a very long time", Ford said.

They all turned to face where he was looking, and their eyes widened as they saw thousands of tiny, flying little beings swarming towards them, all of them in many different glowing colours. Together they formed what looked like a living rainbow. Stunned into silence, the group watched in wonder as the swarm of creatures, vaguely humanoid and made of wood, began to circle above them, flying in formation into various beautiful patterns like a flock of starlings. Mabel's eyes practically sparkled.

"Oh my gosh, they're beautiful", she said, her voice hushed in awe. "Grunkle Ford, what are these?"

"They're rainbow sprites", Ford said. "One of Gravity Falls' more impressive supernatural spectacles".

"This is really cool", Dipper said, his eyes darting about as he tried to keep up with the flurry of colour. "Why did they come here?"

"This is their part of the forest, their territory as it were", Ford explained. "They feed on magic, so naturally they're drawn to large influxes of it such as that which you and Mabel just released. Right now, they're feeding on the plentiful residual magic left behind by your display".

"Dood, this is easily the raddest thing ever", Soos said. "I've never seen anything like it".

"Yeah, not gonna lie", Wendy said, "of all the paranormal junk I've seen from this town, this has gotta be one of the coolest".

Stan remained silent, but he was just as awed as the others were. He bumped his elbow into Ford's arm, and the two brothers exchanged a smile.

Then, as the sprites finished feasting, their impressive formation dropped down to their level and began to fly between them. Several of them nuzzled the twins, setting them both off into giggles as their fluttering wings tickled them.

"They sure seem to like you guys", Wendy said.

"It would seem that they're thanking the two of you for the magic", Ford said, smiling warmly at the sight.

Finally, the swarm of sprites took off into the air once again, and as a singular mass, they flew away into the deeper parts of their territory once again. The event had left all of them in a good mood. Of all the send offs Gravity Falls could have given them, Dipper thought, that was probably the best.

When finally their walk was over, the group returned to the Shack. The twins took a good long look at its exterior. Mabel was already starting to tear up.

"I'm gonna miss this moldy old house so much", she said, her voice watery.

"Yeah", Dipper readily agreed.

"You two wanna go take one last look around inside?" Stan said.

They both nodded.

"Alright then, go ahead. Just make sure to be back out by the time the bus gets here. And grab yer stuff while you're in the there, don't want you two leavin' all yer stuff behind".

Looking back at the little assembled group once more, Dipper and Mabel took off into the house. They took their time exploring every nook and cranny of the Shack, walking through the kitchen, the living room, the parlour, Ford's lab, every single room that had become a part of the house they had come to call home. Finally, they made their way up to their attic bedroom, and took a good hard look at the room that had been their place, their lair just for the two of them, where they had many times talked long into the night, had played attic mini golf together, had generally become the closest they had ever been in their lives, and given that they had always been close as could be, that really was saying something.

"Man, I think I really took this room for granted", Mabel said as these thoughts raced through her head. "It may be dingy, dirty and covered in fungus, but… it's ours".

"Yeah, it is", Dipper said, fondly taking in the bedroom. "It's been nice, huh? Sharing this room?"

"Yeah".

After a few more moments of silence, the two of them grabbed their duffel bags and suitcases, before, after taking one last look at their beloved shared space, they made their way downstairs and out the door. In the distance, they could hear the rumbling approach of a large bus, undoubtedly full of tourists waiting to be scammed out of their money by Stan. The bus that would take them home. Candy, Grenda and Pacifica had joined the assembled group.

"GIRLS!" Mabel shrieked joyously.

She raced over to the group and was swept into a group hug by the three of them.

"I didn't think you were gonna be here", she said, a few tears escaping.

"What, as if we'd miss you two leaving?" Pacifica said.

"Yeah", Grenda said. "Why would we wanna miss out on saying goodbye to our bestie?"

"It is unthinkable", Candy said.

"THANK YOU!" Mabel yelled. "And look… about what happened last night".

"It's okay, Mabel", Candy said. "We know something must have happened to you and Dipper, and that perhaps you are not quite the same as before. But it doesn't matter. You're both still our friends".

"Yeah, it doesn't matter who or what you are", Grenda said. "As long as you come back next summer, you could be a pile of rocks and we wouldn't care at all".

"And ya got here just in time by the sounds of it", Stan said, listening as the bus drew ever nearer.

Dipper made his way over the group. He'd sworn to himself that he wasn't going to cry before leaving, but now, as he looked at his assembled friends and family, he felt a lump forming in his throat. Just as this realisation occurred to him, he was pulled into the group hug with Mabel and the other girls.

"We'll miss you too, Dipper", Candy said.

Dipper blushed a little. Neither Candy nor Grenda had gotten particularly close to him during the summer, so it meant a lot to him that they still considered him their friend.

"Thanks", he muttered awkwardly, hugging them back.

Finally the group squish ended and they separated once again. The bus then emerged from the trees, coming to a stop before the shack. The doors opened and a crowd of tourists stepped off.

"Well, guess this is it", Dipper said.

Mabel tried to speak, but she found that she couldn't. Instead she let loose her tears, futilely wiping at them with her sweater sleeves. Wendy and Soos stepped up first. Soos was rapidly becoming a blubbering mess.

"You… you doods", he said, his throat painful. "You two mean the world to me, you know that?"

Mabel wordlessly threw herself into Soos and hugged his belly tightly. Soos finally broke down and began to sob. He grabbed Dipper and pulled him into the hug too.

"I love you guys", he said. "You're like… No, you ARE family to me doods".

Dipper's restistance broke. Damn everything he thought as his own tears came free.

"We love you too Soos", he said. "You're one of the best friends I've ever had".

"Same for me", Mabel weeped.

"I'm gonna miss you so much", Soos blubbered.

"We're gonna miss you too", they said.

Finally Soos released them, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears and the snot running down his nose. Wendy was not so secretly crying herself, her eyes puffy and red through the tears.

"Wendy, I've never seen you cry before", Mabel said.

"Don't expect to see it again, either", the teen laughed. "This is a one off special event, dorks. Now come on, give me some love".

She opened her arms wide, and within a second they were filled by both the twins.

"You're still the coolest person I've ever met", Dipper said.

"I know dude", Wendy good naturedly replied. "And you two are the coolest people I'VE ever met. This was the coolest summer ever thanks to you too".

"Nuh-uh, it's because of all of you guys", Mabel sobbed. "And nothing could have been as cool as it was without you Wendy".

"Thanks for everything", Dipper said.

"Hey, no problemo", Wendy said as they pulled away. "Mabel, you're a rainbow filled joy ride who makes life worth living. Dipper, you're a cool dude and a goddamn hero, and don't you ever forget it. And it's the same for me as it is with Soos. You two are my best friends. Never forget that, okay? And make sure you get back here next summer".

"We will", Dipper said. "I can't wait to get back out here. California's gonna suck without you there".

"Hey, who knows", Wendy said. "Maybe I'll come visit. Might bring the others along with me, too".

"That'd be nice", Mabel said.

Next, they moved on to the three girls.

"I love you girls", Mabel said as she squeezed each of them in turn. "Besties forever?"

"You know it", Grenda said.

"It is only natural for a bond of friendship such as ours to remain strong forever", Candy said. "Even with distance between us".

Pacifica remained silent for now, but she returned Mabel's hug nonetheless. Dipper was hugged by each of them one at a time.

"Hopefully we'll get to know you better next time Dipper", Candy said.

"You're a great guy", Grenda said. "And the best brother I've ever seen anyone be".

Dipper's heart swelled at that last remark.

"Thanks", he said sincerely.

Finally, he reached Pacifica. She stood before the twins, an awkward silence permeating the air for a few moments before she finally spoke.

"Look, I just wanna say", she said, her voice a little watery. "You two are like… the closest friends I've ever had. Mabel, even though we didn't get to spend much time together, I just… back at that mini golf game we had, you were the first person who ever saw past my mask and actually saw me as a person. Thanks for that".

"Hey, it's no problem Paz", Mabel said, a fresh wave of tears hitting her. "I'm sorry we didn't get to hang out more. Next time we're here, you won't be able to get rid of us".

"Glad to hear it", she said, smiling in a way that she hadn't often been able to in her life. "And Dipper… back when the ghost attacked, you were the one who finally broke through the mask… the one who finally made me feel okay to be myself… okay to be a decent person, to be better than my stupid parents. I don't think there's anything I could ever do to repay you for what you did for me that night, but thank you so much, a thousand times".

"The pleasure's all mine", Dipper said, smiling warmly at her. "You're an awesome person, Pacifica, never forget that".

She pulled the two of them into a hug.

"You two are my best friends. Even if we didn't get to spend much time together, you still totally are. The first real friends I ever had. I'll miss you both".

"We'll miss you too Pacifica", Mabel said.

"A lot", Dipper said. "You've always got a friend in us, no matter what your parents try to say".

They broke apart, and finally they moved onto the last goodbyes of all. Ford was clearly emotional, but was holding back tears as best he could. Stan was looking away from them, wiping his eyes as he failed miserable at keeping his tears at bay. Ford, seeing that his brother needed a moment, stepped forward first. He kneeled down to look both of them in the eyes.

"Dipper, Mabel", he said. "The two of you are the finest niece and nephew a man could ever ask for. You're both brilliant minds in your own special ways, each as much a genius as the other. It's been a true pleasure to meet you both, and I consider you not only my niece and nephew, but two of my best friends as well".

"Darn it", Mabel said as yet more tears came forth, "now I'm emotional all over again".

She flung herself into Ford and hugged him round the middle. Dipper joined her, and Ford tightly wrapped his arms around the both of them.

"You're one of my best friends too", Dipper said, trying and failing to get rid of his tears on his uncle's sweater.

"You're both wonderful people, and I look forward to getting to know both of you even better the next time you're here", Ford said, before he patted the two of them on the back and released them from his grip.

"I love you Grunkle Ford", Mabel said.

"Me too", Dipper said.

"I love both of you too", Ford said, smiling warmly at them. "And believe me, if I could have taken your place in what happened to you, I would have".

At long last, it came down to the final goodbye of all. Stan stared at the two of them, tears pouring down his face at this point. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times, trying to speak but finding himself unable to do so. In the end he gave up on speaking, and he threw himself at the twins instead, dropping to his knees and pulling both of them into the tightest hug he'd ever given. He sobbed unashamedly into the tops of their heads, the twins sobbing into his suit as they hugged him back as tightly as they could.

"I'm gonna miss you kids so much", Stan sobbed. "More than you know".

"We'll miss you too Grunkle Stan", they said.

"I love you both so much, never forget that".

"We won't", Dipper said. "And we love you too".

"So, so much", Mabel said.

"You kids… ya mean the world to me, and I ain't exaggeratin' either. You've both given me the best summer of my life, and I can never thank either of ya enough for it".

"Thanks for having us Grunkle Stan", Mabel said.

"Yeah", Dipper agreed. "It's been the best summer of our lives too, minus the apocalypse".

Stan laughed through his sobs and tightened his embrace. Finally, after another minute or so, he kissed both of them on the forehead and released them from his grip, wiping away his tears.

"Now you two hurry up and get on that bus", Stan said. "Don't wanna miss yer ride home. And remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, me and Ford are right here".

"Indeed we are", Ford said. "Don't hesitate to call, we'll always be glad to hear your voices".

"Same here", Wendy said.

"Me too", Soos agreed.

"Us as well", Candy chimed in.

"Forever and always", Grenda said.

"Yeah, you two losers better not forget to call me", Pacifica said.

"We won't", Mabel assured. "Prepare for a tidal wave of digital affection, all of you".

There was one more round of quick hugs between everyone present, culminating in a big group hug between all of them at once, the twins squished at the centre of it. Then, with tears still coming thick and fast, both of them picked up their luggage and stepped on board the bus. After quickly showing their tickets to the driver, they stowed their things in the overhead rack and raced to the back of the bus, staring out the window. Slowly, the bus closed its doors and pulled away from the Shack. Mabel and Dipper both waved furiously out the back window, their assembled friends and family waving back as hard as they could. The group chased after the bus for as long and hard as they could, keeping up the waving and all of them yelling out yet more farewells.

"GOODBYE, WE LOVE YOU!" Mabel screamed.

"SEE YOU NEXT SUMMER!" Dipper yelled as loud as he could. "DON'T FORGET ABOUT US IN THE MEANTIME!"

The bus picked up speed and their friends and family were left behind. Mabel blew all of them a kiss before they vanished from sight. Then, the bus made its way through Gravity Falls, and the twins watched as their beloved home rapidly passed them by. Soon they were rolling away into the hills, and they were given a spectacular view of the entire town, the sun beaming down onto it. Mabel's hand slipped into Dipper's, both of them squeezing affectionately. They pressed their shoulders together and placed one another's heads together. Mabel blew out a long, shaky breath and wiped away her tears.

"Goodbye, Gravity Falls", she whispered as the town finally vanished from view.

"We'll miss you", Dipper said.

He gave Mabel's hand another loving squeeze, and after a few more moments of wistful staring, they turned around to go to their seats. What they saw made them gasp in shock. Dipper tensed and instinctively placed an arm out in front of Mabel. Stood before them was a man dressed in a dark brown cloak, archaic symbols imprinted all over it. A hood covered his head, and inside it they could see no face, only darkness. Two grey, clawed hands were poking out of the sleeves.

"Good day to you, godlings", he said in an ancient, rattling voice. "A pleasure to finally meet you".

 **A/N: Whoof, this turned into another pretty big chapter here. But I suppose that was always going to be the case with the farewell scene. Don't worry, we haven't seen the last of the Gravity Falls gang just yet. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and once again, I'm sorry it took me as long as it did, but unfortunately that's just the way my writing seems to happen with this story, and I'm just gonna have to learn to deal with my brain's way of doing things I think. Hopefully the next one will come along a little quicker. Thanks for reading :)**


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

The cloaked figure took a step closer.

"Who are you!?" Dipper demanded.

Mabel grabbed a hold of his shirt, trembling nervously, and he found himself clinging onto her sweater. The creature took another step toward them, its face still shrouded by a blank void of darkness.

"Don't even think about coming closer until you've told us who you are" Dipper ordered.

"I do apologise", the being said in his ancient voice. "It was certainly not my intent to cause you alarm, my dear godlings. But I am here to speak to you on behalf of those who have taken notice of your transformation".

"W-whaddya mean?" Mabel said.

"What she said", Dipper agreed.

"All will be explained in due time".

"No, it'll be explained right now", he spat. "I don't know who or what you are, and until I do, neither of us is even going to consider coming anywhere near you".

Another step toward them. Dipper had had enough. Sneering and letting out a snarl of frustration, he sent the strongest shockwave he could at the thing. The creature raised his clawed hand and extended his palm. The shockwave rolled over him harmlessly.

Dipper let out a gasp of shock. Mabel wasn't feeling any better about the situation.

"Bro, this guy is giving me major creepo vibes", she whispered. "Is… is he stronger than us?"

"Why of course I am", the creature said. "At least… as you currently are. Now please, would you just give me a moment to explain myself without throwing needles aggression at me?"

Dipper raised his palm again, Mabel doing the same, even though they both knew that no blast they could conjure was strong enough to defeat this being.

"Fine", Dipper said bitterly.

"Wait, how is nobody noticing this?" Mabel asked, her brow raising as she looked all around herself. The other passengers on the bus were paying them no notice. In fact….

"Are… are they frozen?" she said, noticing how motionless they all appeared to be.

"Quite", the thing said. "I have secluded us within a single moment of time. To the others, this will not even register as a blip within their senses, for it will have gone by too quickly for them to notice. This is one of the powers granted to me by my masters, one of the many powers at which they themselves excel, and which, eventually, you may well do too".

"So… just who are you exactly?" Dipper said.

"I am Gharduul", the creature said. "An emissary of the higher beings of the multiverse, those with power beyond any… except for yours that is. And that is the exact reason that I'm here".

"So… somebody wants our power for their own use?" Dipper said. "And you're here to, I dunno, kidnap us or something?"

"Heavens, no", Gharduul said. "I am merely here to discuss certain matters with you. Let us… step away from this place, and go somewhere a little more comfortable perhaps".

He snapped his fingers, and reality itself blurred away into nothingness, and suddenly they were out in what seemed to be the middle of space, stars all around them, before a tear opened up behind them and they were sucked into it. They had arrived in what looked like an ancient medieval castle, only with no sense of gravity, as the stairwells headed off into all directions, criss-crossing up and down throughout the expansive room, like something out of an Escher painting. The twins still held onto one another. None of this was giving them good vibes.

"What is this place?" Mabel said. "Your mindscape?"

"I can see why you would think that, but no", Gharduul said. "This is a pocket dimension, a little abode I have crafted for myself. Now come along, we have much to discuss".

And with that he drifted away along one of the stairwells. Dipper and Mabel wordlessly turned to face one another. The anxiety showed in both their eyes. They gave a silent nod to each other, then took one another's hands and followed after the strange creature. The stairwell he had chosen spiralled all around the castle, constantly switching up and down (if "up" and "down" were even a valid concept here, Dipper thought) and twisting in directions that shouldn't exist, until finally they arrived at a simple wooden door. Gharduul opened it, then beckoned to them.

"Come on, let's sort this business out", he said, then walked inside.

Following him in, they found themselves in what seemed like quite a comfortable office, with a large desk made of oak, several bookshelves full of ancient dusty tomes, and a cheerful fire crackling away in the fireplace behind the desk. Gharduul settled himself behind the desk and said,

"please, make yourselves comfortable".

With a twirl of his wrist, he conjured two armchairs on the opposite side of the desk. They each took a seat as the creature conjured up a teapot and some mugs, and poured each of them a cup of a strange, pinkish tea with a pleasant aroma unlike anything they had ever smelled before. Mabel took a sip first, and her face lit up.

"Oh wow, this is delicious", she said, her eyes very literally sparkling.

Dipper, despite his reservations, took a sip of the stuff himself.

"Holy… well, you're definitely not wrong", he said.

That was putting it lightly. The tea was the most delicious thing he had ever drunk. Which frankly just made him all the more suspicious of the creature sitting before him.

"I'm glad you approve", Gharduul said, giving them a short, simple bow. "Now, on to business".

"Yeah, so what exactly are you?" Mabel said bluntly.

"I am a being that my masters would refer to as a Celestial Envoy", Gharduul explained. "A being of reasonable power, but nothing compared to those who created me, and whom my ultimate purpose is to serve. And most certainly nothing compared to your potential. And your potential is indeed limitless. That which has occurred between yourself and the demon Bill Cipher didn't go unnoticed. The interdimensional community of higher beings most assuredly took notice of the gargantuan energy surge. And they aren't sure what to think. They themselves are powerful beings, but you two… nothing like you has ever existed. A greater surge of power has never been seen in the entire history of the multiverse".

"If you're trying to butter us up, it's not gonna work", Dipper said, crossing his arms. "Just cut to the chase and tell us what you want".

"You're certainly a blunt one", Gharduul said, a little bitterly. "But there is no "chase", in this particular instance. If anything, I'm simply here to deliver a message from my masters".

The twins remained silent, glancing at one another.

"I shall continue then", Gharduul said. "You see, the two of you should be impossible. No being has ever attained your level of power, or I suppose potential power now since the two of you seem to have lost what you had. There have been powerful entities who have come about in the same way you have, by absorbing the power of the Nexus and becoming higher beings. The beings I serve no less, the ones who, in your language, would likely be referred to as gods, though they are certainly not the gods of human invention. They are extraordinarily powerful, capable of altering the fabric of entire universes. Through various circumstances, they came to absorb the power of the Nexus and ascended to a state of godhood. But compared to the two of you, they are as nothing. Their power is like a single drop in the ocean that is yours. You absorbed the power of the Nexus completely, and none have ever come close to such a feat, to absorb infinite power should destroy even the most powerful of beings, yet here the two of you stand, unharmed. The two of you are true gods, beyond anything my masters could ever hope to be. Beings of infinite power, eventually capable of creating countless universes with nought but a single thought, beings capable of knowing all things, of doing all things".

Dipper and Mabel turned to look at one another again. Truth be told, the thought of their potential power still frightened the both of them. They were only thirteen years old, yet here they were being told that all of existence would quake before their power.

"So… why exactly are you here?" Dipper said cautiously. "What do you want from us?"

"My masters, the gods, or rather the gods of this particular region of the multiverse, as the multiverse is well and truly infinite, and so there are infinite beings just like them across all of creation, wish to make contact with you. Your power is unlike anything that has ever existed. And that should be impossible. The multiverse is infinite, and as such, since your condition is indeed, it would seem, possible, it should have occurred infinite times with infinite beings, yet it never has, anywhere, at any point of existence, not even with any of the alternate versions of the two of you. This is an anomaly beyond anything ever seen, and as such you have my masters interested. They wish to make, ah, shall we say diplomatic relations with you. Truth be told, this is coming somewhat from a place of fear for them. They know that you could eventually unbind all of reality itself if you wished it, or that you could aid the demons in their undesirable goals".

"Why would we ever help stupid jerkface demons?" Mabel said.

"Yeah", Dipper said. "We've never exactly had the best relationship with them, in case you didn't notice our spat with Bill".

"Well, as I have already said, we most definitely noticed. But my masters wish to ensure that never happens, that your intentions do not turn ill. And so, they have extended an offer to train the two of you"

"Train us?" both of them said.

"Yes", Gharduul said, joining his hands together. "The full extent of their goals for you are not known to a humble servant such as I, but though the two of you have potential power far greater than any possessed by them, currently you are both newborns in terms of godhood, and as it is, your power is very limited. There is a god resident to this version of the earth, who resides in the eastern lands. It is their wish that you train with him in a place hidden to mortal beings".

"And why should we?" Dipper said. "You've given us no reason to trust you".

Mabel nodded furiously in agreement.

"Yeah", she said.

"See, even my sister agrees", Dipper said, "and she's the most trusting person I know".

"Take from it what you will", Gharduul said. "But consider the offer extended. My masters wish only to form a diplomatic relationship with you, and to form an alliance against the demons of this region of the multiverse".

From his robe, he pulled two glowing green crystals, handing one to each of them.

"If you wish to take up their request, simply tell it to these invitation crystals, and they will guide you to the place where the god lies, to the hidden mountains of Shangri-La. The god who resides there will teach you in the ways of your power, how to increase it at a faster rate for example, and to control it as it grows too big for your newborn godhood to contain".

They each stashed away their crystals, but Dipper kept a non-too friendly eye on the mysterious figure.

"Why should we believe any of this?" he said.

"Gotta agree with my bro", Mabel said. "You've told us all this funky stuff, but why should we believe any of it? And why should we accept any "training"? We've handled our powers just fine so far".

"Suit yourselves", Gharduul said, "but there will certainly come a time when you may reconsider the offer. So I'd advise you to keep the crystals, if I were you. In the meantime, be aware that you are being watched by forces currently beyond your understanding, and I'm not speaking only of my masters".

"Care to expand on that?" Dipper said.

"I'm afraid not", Gharduul replied. "I am only a conduit for the will of the gods, and though I may wish to inform you further on such matters, it is not their desire to do so, and as such, I cannot".

"Great, withholding information, totally trustworthy tactic", Dipper said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, what is it that the religious earthfolk always say? God works in mysterious ways. Or rather, gods, in this case".

"If they even are gods", Dipper said.

"So… what happens now?" Mabel said.

"Now", Gharduul said, "I give you a brief taste of your potential abilities".

He snapped his fingers again, and in an instant they were transported from the office to a city, floating high above it. They were floating above gigantic skyscrapers, and down below, Dipper and Mabel could see countless people frozen in time.

"Welcome to Tokyo", Gharduul said.

"Whoa, we're in Japan!?" Mabel gasped. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"Mabel, don't you think there's, uh, more pressing matters at hand", Dipper said, nodding in Gharduul's direction.

"Oh, right, sorry", she said, clearing her throat and regaining her composure.

"So, why did you bring us here?" Dipper asked.

"Well, I figured it would be good to give you a little example of what you will one day be capable of doing. And so, I thought it would be good to give you something to see on a large scale".

Once again he snapped his fingers, and Dipper and Mabel felt a mighty tug on their very being as they were lifted out of the third dimension and ascended higher. For a few seconds, all they could do was stare in awe and gasp in wonder at what they saw.

"Bro, this… this is freakin' weird", Mabel said.

"Agreed", Dipper said, his voice hoarse.

Before them, the entire city was visible. In the very literal sense, in that they were looking at the third dimension from a four dimensional perspective. They could see all sides of the buildings at once, they could see inside them even with the walls still surrounding them. In effect, nothing was hidden from sight. It was all laid out before them. It would have been impossible to describe to beings restricted purely to three dimensions, as they once had been, but now, from their new perspective, it made perfect sense.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Gharduul said.

They remained silent for a good long while before Mabel finally said,

"so… this is real, right?"

"Incredibly so", Gharduul confirmed. "It's quite the sight, isn't it, when you see it for the first time. And look around yourselves".

Snapping out of their trance, they did as they were bid, and looked into directions that hadn't existed before, and they saw the indescribable objects and energies of the fourth dimension, taking on shapes they wouldn't have thought possible, out of sight to the human beings down in the city, or anywhere in the world for that matter.

"This is seriously the weirdest", Mabel said. "All that time we spent in Gravity Falls, and we didn't see the weirdest jazz ever until leaving it".

"Yeah, that's true", Dipper said, his mouth still agape. "This is… this is just bizarre".

Neither of them could peel their eyes away from it, away their new perch beyond the perception of mortal beings.

"One day you shall be able to achieve this on your own", Gharduul said. "And perhaps that will come quicker if you take up our offer, along with the countless other abilities you can attain. Think about it, you will be able to ascend dimension upon dimension, until you can see the entirety of the universe in its truest form. Object reality. And it will be your plaything, no less".

They remained silent.

"Well, I shall leave you with your thoughts on the matter. In the meantime, I shall bid you farewell, Dipper and Mabel Pines of Dimension _46_ '\".

"Wait, but…" Dipper started.

"For now I have told you all that I can", Gharduul said, interrupting him.

"But…" Mabel began.

"My apologies", he said. "But in the meantime, you may go on with your normal lives if you wish, though I have my doubts as to whether or not you will be able to keep up such a façade now that you are such fundamentally different beings than you previously were. But, like I said, be aware that higher powers are watching you. Beware the demon known as Jacques".

And with that, everything went black.

* * *

The twins snapped into consciousness an unknown amount of time later with deep, gasping breaths.

"Whoamygod!" Mabel yelled, wild eyed. "Bro, did you… was that… did you see the guy, and the things?"

"I did", Dipper said, clutching his chest, his heart, or perhaps just a facsimile of a heart now, thundering away. "What the heck was that?"

"I have no idea", Mabel said, sinking her hands into her hair. "That was crazy, bro-bro. Like, mega whacked out super bonkers crazy".

"That… about describes it", Dipper said. "The fourth dimension was… I don't know how to describe it, but it was the strangest thing I've ever seen".

It was then that the two of them realized where they were. They were back on the bus, and time had resumed its normal course. All around them, people were staring at them, giving them the strangest looks. Both of them awkwardly looked away, and the stares pretty quickly stopped. As far as anyone else here knew, they were just a pair of kids with an overactive imagination. They would never have the slightest inkling of what had really happened.

"So… what do we do about his offer?" Mabel said.

"I say we don't take it", Dipper said. "That guy was giving me major bad vibes, I don't trust him or these "gods" as far as I can throw. He was trying to tempt us with power there at the end. If that doesn't say red flag, then I don't know what does".

"Yeah, that does seem like the sort of thing that Bill would do", Mabel said.

"Exactly", Dipper said. "That guy even looked like a demon".

"Yeah, he kinda did", Mabel agreed. "Like, textbook definition, generic stereotype demon-y guy".

"So yeah, for now, can we just agree to not trust him or anything that he says?"

Mabel paused for a good long while, obviously thinking things over, before nodding in agreement.

"You're right, bro", she said. "But, we should probably keep the crystals, just in case".

"True", Dipper said. "Wait, do we even still have them?"

The two of them searched all of their pockets for them, and indeed they found them, though their glow had currently vanished. Mabel looked the thing over, and slowly, a forlorn look crossed her face.

"Nothing's ever gonna be the same again, is it?" she said morosely.

Dipper let out a long, low breath.

"No", he muttered. "It's really not".

There was brief, heavy silence, both of them looking away from one another.

"Dip, who do you think Jacques is?" Mabel asked.

"Huh?"

"He said to beware a demon called Jacques. Why does that name sound so familiar? It feels like we've already met the guy somehow".

"Huh… I don't know. But whoever he is, he can't be good news. I guess… I don't know. For now we should just keep a low profile, you know. Let's see where things go from here".

And Dipper agreed with her, something about the name Jacques was so jarringly familiar, but how? He couldn't remember a thing, but the familiarity was beyond frustrating.

"Yeah, I guess you're right brozone", Mabel said. "But, whatever happens, I guess at least we'll be going through it together, huh?"

She gave him her signature big grin, and Dipper's face melted into a soft smile.

"Yeah", he said. "We'll go through it together just like we always have. Mystery twins?" he said, offering her his fist.

"Mystery twins", Mabel agreed, placing her fist on top of his and staring into his eyes for some much needed reassurance.

Suddenly, there came a crackle of static as the bus driver flicked on the transceiver.

"Next stop, Piedmont", came his static-y voice.

"Wait, WHAT!?" Dipper said.

"No way", Mabel said. "But… we only just got on the bus, right?"

"I mean… I thought so, but… wow, we must have been out for a while".

"I guess so", Mabel said, her eyes still boggling.

Before long, they were entering their hometown and coming to a halt at the bus stop. Looking outside, the twins saw that their parents were waiting expectantly for them outside, excited grins on their faces. They both gulped, dreading what was to come.

"So, we're still not telling them, right?" Mabel said.

"Yup", Dipper said.

"Then why am I still so scared?"

"I don't know, but if it helps any, so am I", Dipper said, offering her a nervous but reassuring smile.

Mabel smiled back, though it wasn't quite her usual big toothy grin, far more anxiety behind it than was usual. Taking their luggage off of the rack, the two of them took hold of one another's hands once again. Taking a few deep, calming breaths, they headed towards the entrance of the bus.

 **A/N: HAHA, YES! I updated in a relatively short period of time, woo! So anyway, this was a very enjoyable chapter to write. I'm happy to be introducing these new elements to the story, and I'm curious to see what you all think about Gharduul and his so called "masters". Also, the title of Celestial Envoy is a total Okami reference, because I saw an opportunity to reference my favourite game of all time and I took it gosh dang it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time, all the best.**


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